


Kitty Cats & Erotica

by carpetburnz



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Eventual Smut, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Smut, Identity Reveal, Light Angst, Smut, chat is confused & ladybug loves him, rating may go up later on, slightly out of character & non-con at the beginning but not major
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-05
Updated: 2018-05-23
Packaged: 2018-08-13 04:51:03
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 31
Words: 69,059
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7963117
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/carpetburnz/pseuds/carpetburnz
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When an akuma sends Paris into a sexual frenzy and bewitches one of the city's beloved superhero's, it leaves photographic evidence, sobbing fangirls, a lingering sense of mortification for one polka-dotted hero, bewilderment for one black cat, and a shared hatred of erotica.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

The city of Paris had turned to shit overnight.

  Ladybug had a list, though she never mentioned it, of specific akuma that she and Chat Noir had battled, and how they ranked from her personal worse to the not too bad. On the very top of her list, shining number one, was Volpina. For obvious reasons, Ladybug wasn't at all fond of the fake miraculous user, and personally believed Volpina to be the worse akuma she'd had to deal with since becoming a hero. Of course, she hadn't told Chat Noir this. After all, she couldn't exactly tell him that the reason she hated Volpina so much was because she'd dangled her beloved Adrien Agreste over the edge of the Eiffel Tower and threatened to drop him to his demise. It had turned out to be an illusion in the end, but Ladybug still refused to get over it.

  The second worst akuma on Ladybug's list had to be The Bubbler. It had nothing to do with who the akuma had seized - Nino was a great and considerate person - but knowing that The Bubbler had taken Marinette's parents away from her so easily didn't settle well in her stomach. She loved her parents dearly, as she was sure many other children did, and so The Bubbler had easily made number two on her list of 'Worst Akuma I've Battled.'

  The third worst akuma on the list was a new edition, and Ladybug had blushed beetroot red when Chat Noir had first briefed her on what exactly the akuma was all about, and specifically why it had been akumatized in the first place. Said akuma had abruptly turned Paris to shit. The streets were close to empty, which was both bad and good, since the akuma's effect essentially had victims crawling into bedrooms in pairs - sometimes in trios or more. Other victims hadn't even bothered to make the trek back to the privacy of their bedrooms, and found darkened alleyways or scooted into the backseat of cars as the akuma's influence consumed them.

  "It seems that the akuma... provokes people," Chat Noir had started nervously, his lips pulled into a sheepish grin as he rubbed the skin at the back of his neck.

  "Provokes people?" Ladybug had questioned, eyebrows furrowed beneath the mask as she scanned the almost deserted streets. "Provokes people how?"

  When Chat had answered her, his cheeks had been ruby red. "Sexually."

  And that was how Paris had turned to shit.

  Ladybug could only hope that her friends were safe in their bedrooms - no, far away from their bedrooms - and unaffected by the _arousing_ akuma. She wanted nothing more than her friends, Alya, Nino - Adrien, oh God. She hoped that Adrien was far, far,  _far_ away from any carnal activities currently taking place in Paris. When Chat Noir tapped her arm with the tip of her baton, she shook herself out of her own head. She couldn't think about her friends right now, she needed to focus on taking down the akuma.

  The akuma - Ladybug had almost laughed - was named Erotica, a woman dressed in a tight fitting lacy leotard, with thigh high leather boots, and Chat Noir had mentioned that she had been raving and screaming about how romance was dead, and that she would soon light a fire in every single person in Paris. He had also gone into extra detail about her costume, particularly how transparent it was, and by then, Ladybug had rolled her eyes and aimed her yoyo at his head.

  "Chat, focus," she said, eyebrows pinching together as she settled into a crouch by the edge of a dirty rooftop. "This may be one of the most dangerous akuma that we've dealt with yet. We're talking about..." Her words drifted, eyes darting up to her partner. "Do we know what the akumatized object is?"

  "Well, I've been watching," Chat began, and he crouched down beside Ladybug, the butt of his staff pressed into the cement between his thighs. "And I think she gets people with that book she's holding. Reads a passage out and if someone's within hearing rage, they're affected." 

  "Don't tell me," Ladybug sighed. "It's an erotica." Chat shrugged, but telling by the redness of the tips of his ears, Ladybug guessed she was right. "God, I'm too innocent for this."

  "You don't say," Chat piped, and he stood, stretching his legs as his fists landed at his hips. "Bugaboo, how old did you say you were again?"

  "I didn't," she chirped, and her face reddened at the sound of a pleasured cry somewhere in the city. Chat grinned at her. "And it's none of your business. We have work to do. Go for the book, and if that doesn't work, then - well, don't get Erotica _ized_."

  "My Lady, I love how much you care for me." And with that, he dropped from the building, his staff extending and shortening as he made his way through the streets of Paris. Ladybug watched him leave, wishing that she'd reminded him to block his ears with something, and she chewed on her bottom lip. He'd be okay. For now, though, she needed to make sure she was safe from Erotica's  _charms._ She decided to 'borrow' some cloth from a small tee-shirt hanging on a thin washing line strung outside a second story window of some random house, and ripped two strips. She balled them up and stuck one in each ear, testing the makeshift earplugs by banging on a metal pipe a few times. She could still hear the ring of the metal, but it was faint, and if she hummed or sung under her breath, it mostly drained out any other outside noise. If worse came to worse, she could always use her Lucky Charm, and Ladybug imagined something similar would turn up. 

  Satisfied with her protection, Ladybug took in a breath, and she swung off the building, eyes scanning the world around her as she searched for Erotica. Last time Chat had seen her had been by Francoise Dupont College, and Ladybug almost fainted. As per usual, as soon as there had been word of an akuma out on the streets of Paris, the school had been evacuated and everyone returned home to the safety of their homes. Hopefully there were no lingering students or teachers left in the building. When Ladybug arrived, Chat Noir was nowhere in sight, which worried her, because Erotica was there, laughing and screaming to herself as she clutched the book she was holding to her chest.

  "Okay, Erotica," Ladybug called as her yoyo landed her safely to the ground, and she pressed the earplugs into her ears once more before she began her walk towards the akuma. "It's over. You're killing romance." 

  Erotica screamed something, Ladybug couldn't hear - which was a relief - and then she pulled her book out, and Ladybug watched as she flipped through the pages and, with her mouth moving, assumed she had begun reading. Ladybug had just began to make her move when she spotted a leather clad figure in the very corner of her vision, and she felt panic shudder down her spine. But when she turned, Chat Noir was very fully himself with earbuds pressed into his ears, waving his arms and shouting something across the space between them.

  Ladybug backed away from Erotica, and she called out, "I can't hear you!" She almost heard the hiss of annoyance that escaped through his clenched teeth, and he shook his hands again, face growing redder with colour as he screamed with all his might, and then she watched as his face turned pale and he froze, because Ladybug had unconsciously pulled an earplug from an ear to shout, "what are you saying?"

  "What are you doing?" She heard Chat shout as Erotica cried, "''But will you marry me after you've taken me? Protect me, love me, cherish me? Even after I've given you what every man desires from me?-'"

  Ladybug wanted to punch herself in the face. 

  She shuddered first, as if she'd gotten a chill, and then she felt heat in her chest, and then her stomach, and before she could so much as let out a breath, Chat had grabbed her by the waist and hoisted her over his shoulder. Ladybug blinked, surprised, and stared at his leather tail as he darted away from the college, and away from Erotica, and Ladybug could hardly focus on the task at hand because she was feeling too hot and not close enough to Chat's body, and as she peeked over her shoulder, she wished that his hands would travel a little lower down her back.

  "Hey Kitty," Ladybug called, but the earbuds were still pressed securely in Chat's ears, and he couldn't hear a word she had said. He did, however, send her a sharp look of warning when she grabbed hold of his tail and stuck the end of it in her mouth. "Where are you taking me, Kitty?" She murmured between the thick leather, and although he couldn't hear her, his face grew pink and she felt his heartbeat pick up against her thigh. 

  "Stop that," he said, his voice a shout over the music that streamed in his ears. "You're an idiot, LB."

  "I'm sorry, Kitty." Her fingers trailed down his back, tucking into his belt. "You can punish me if you want." He murmured something under his breath, Ladybug couldn't make out what, and reached behind with one hand to take hold of her wrists. She felt something in her lower stomach coil and she bucked against Chat, sending him stumbling a little, and she pressed her thighs together as his grip around her wrists tightened. "Kitty, I never would have imagined. You're such a dork, but you haven't even touched me and already I - Oof!"

  He'd dropped her on her ass on a dirty rooftop, fury on his face as he ripped the earbuds from his ears and placed the portable music player on the floor beside him. "Ladybug, you idiot. Why would you take the plugs out of your ears?"

  "I wanted to hear your voice," Ladybug crooned, and she clambered to her hands and knees as she crawled towards her partner. He backed away. "Chat, you can't just leave me like this. Not after you've already started."

  His cheeks flushed bright red, and his lips pulled into an embarrassed frown as he blurted, "I didn't start anything!"

  But he had, whether he had meant to or not. Ladybug was already panting, moaning as her fingers curled around Chat's ankles, and she swallowed thickly as she looked up at him. "Mon chéri, don't you know that I trust you more than anyone else?"

  Chat looked cautious, eyes searching hers as he answered, "I know."

  "Don't you feel the same?" Her hands were crawling up his body now, and she'd begun to stand, her body flush against Chat's, but he was backing away, and she was only following him. "Don't you trust me more than anyone else?"

  "I do, b-but -" He caught her hands as they pried a little close to the space between his leather clad thighs, and he smiled nervously. "But you're my partner, My Lady -"

  "Exactly,  _your_ lady," Ladybug murmured, and a soft moan escaped through her lips as Chat's hands tightened around her wrists. She hadn't thought that was intentional, and she could feel his heart hammering against her breasts. "Am I not your lady, Chaton? I'm yours. All yours. So, won't you give me what I want?"

  "What you want?" Chat stammered. His breath was almost as heavy as hers now, and she relished the feeling of the warmth as it fanned against her begging lips. Closer. Just a little bit closer. She pressed her knee between his thighs, and he jumped back with a surprised yelp, but she followed him, and she'd backed him up against the wall, just a few metres beside the door which lead into whichever building they'd landed on. Chat cleared his throat. "My Lady, you're not yourself right now."

  "Do you love me, Chat Noir?"

  He choked on his own breath. "W-What?"

  "I can give you anything you want, Chat." Ladybug freed her hands from his gloved grip - they slipped easily from his slack fingers - and she combed her fingers through his thick hair, fingernails scraping slowly against his scalp, and Chat's mouth dropped open as his eyes rolled back into his head. "Don't you want me, Chat? Don't you want to kiss me? Don't you want to make love to me?" His eyes had opened again, and he struggled to pry Ladybug's hands out of his hair. "Chat, stop. I want you."

  "I don't want you!" He snapped, but his voice was strained, and as Ladybug's eyebrows roused, she realised that he was lying. He did want her, had wanted her for who knew how long, and Ladybug hadn't even known. "Stop this. I'm your friend."

  "Oh, but we could be more than friends." She grinned, her nose following the edge of his jaw until she flicked her tongue out and licked the vein straining against the soft flesh of his neck. "So much more than friends." She rubbed her thighs together and moaned, fingers curling into the leather of his shoulders. 

  Chat shook his head, and his hands were trembling, his face painted with despair. "Please stop." 

  "I know that you want me too, Chat." Her fingers were moving again, down his chest, over his belt - he caught her hands again, stopped her from touching Chat where he hadn't ever been touched before. "It's okay, I don't mind. You don't even need Erotica's influence. You've wanted me like this for a long time, haven't you? Kitty."

  "Ladybug."

  "It can be like this all the time. If we let Erotica stay, give her our miraculous, who cares?" Ladybug's mouth danced over his, and her tongue traced along the vermilion border of his upper lip. "No one will need us, because they'll all be busy loving each other. And us?" She pressed a small kiss to the corner of Chat's mouth, and another on the other side, and his clawed fingers curled around her slim waist, slowing pushing her away. Her thumb ghosted over his ear - his real ear, not the cat ear that came with his transformation - and she kissed him, slowly, his upper lip captured between both of hers, and when she traced his mouth with her tongue, Chat whimpered. "Well, no one will need us right?" Ladybug murmured. "We can love each other as much as we want." 

  "Ladybug." Chat's claws dug into the soft flesh above her hips, what he intended as a warning, but Ladybug crooned and fisted her hands into his hair, bringing their faces close as she whispered: 

  "That's more like it." 

  And willingly or not, Ladybug kissed him, fiercely and unfaltering, and Chat grabbed her arms, tried to pull her off, but Ladybug had always been equal in strength if not stronger, and she wouldn't budge. It was the bright flash that stopped her though, and the two hero's stopped and turned, lips red and swollen, breath hard and erratic, bodies entwined as one, red gloves stuck in blonde hair, and black gloves digging into shoulder blades. 

  "Paparazzi," Chat muttered under his heavy breath, and just as he licked his tingling lips, another flash blinded him. The journalist was a male with a cap over his head and a black camera in his hands, and Ladybug didn't realise when, but he'd come through the double doors beside them, and she felt her stomach coil at the thought of someone watching her and Chat Noir. Of course, when she looked at Chat, he seemed far from aroused. "What do you think you're doing? Don't you know it's dangerous out here?" He tried to move, but Ladybug slammed his back against the wall. 

  The journalist's eyebrows rose. "Yeah. Looks real dangerous, hero." He took off before another word could be spoken, back through the doors and down the stairs, and the next day, Ladybug just knew that those pictures of her and Chat Noir would be all over Paris tomorrow. Not that she thought kissing was a big deal - she was after much more than that. 

  "Kitten," Ladybug purred, swollen lips puckered as her hands trailed down the back of Chat's leather suit. He slapped her hands away and shoved her, so hard that Ladybug stumbled and almost tripped over her own feet. "Chat?"

  His eyes, yellowish-green pupils over apple green sclerae, were absolute now. Angry, _furious_ , and glaring straight ahead at Ladybug, burning holes through her. "Enough, Ladybug. Sit down, now." She did as she was told, and she had to bite down on her bottom lip to keep herself from smiling at the pleasure his orders gave her. "Stay here."

  Ladybug blinked. "Stay? If you're leaving, I'm coming with you."

  Chat Noir licked his lips, and he crouched down, grabbing her hands before she could dig them into his hair. "If you stay here and wait for me, right here in this spot, I'll come back and let you have your way with me."

  Ladybug swallowed a moan. "You'll do whatever I tell you to? Let me do what I want?"

  "Anything you want. Deal?"

  She nodded. "Deal."

  Chat turned his back on her without a second glance, and Ladybug preoccupied herself by watching his backside as he bent down to scoop up the music player, and then he bounded off the rooftop, leaving her alone and with an aching longing between her thighs. He'd gone after Erotica, but Ladybug was too preoccupied with her hands and the planning of what she'd do when Chat Noir returned to her. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is a new Miraculous Ladybug fic I'm working on, and although this chapter was a bit out of character and non-con, that's just to set up for the rest of the story. And oh yeah, I'm probably going to try to turn this into a big smutty, identity reveal, angsty fic. Try, being the key word. 
> 
> And also! I hope that people don't think I condone Ladybug's non-con behaviour, because it's not right, and that's also going to work into the story. Okay! Thanks for reading!


	2. Chapter 2

Chat was trembling so hard that it had taken him three times to press the ‘PLAY’ button on his music player with his clawed thumb. It wasn’t necessarily like Ladybug had really frightened him or upset him, but he was shaken a little – a lot – and he couldn’t help but remember the way she had touched him. The feel of her soft lips, the way her hands searched his body, his name as it tumbled from her lips. But Chat knew. It wasn’t Ladybug.

  Well, to be literal it _was_ Ladybug, but Chat wasn’t dumb. He knew that Ladybug didn’t return his feelings, and the only reason that she’d come onto him like that was because of Erotica. Not because of him. It stung – it stung a lot, and Chat thought that was why he was so shaken up. He was so close to being with Ladybug, to fulfilling things he had only ever dreamt about, but there was just one thing.

  Ladybug did not love Chat Noir.

  Chat didn’t even fully know how Erotica’s power worked yet. People were affected when they heard lines from Erotica’s book, and then they turned into sex-craved lunatics. How did it work, though? Did the affected person go out and search for someone to get hot and heavy with, or would they only want the first person, or people, they laid eyes on? Chat hoped it was the latter. He’d much prefer Ladybug forcing herself onto him than some random strangers in the street.

  His grip tightened around his baton. He’d just left Ladybug there. He’d been bluffing of course, when he had told her he’d let her do anything she wanted with him. Chat would defeat Erotica, and everything would return to normal. Normal, as in Ladybug and the rest of Paris wouldn’t be stripping down for strangers, but Chat had no idea what would happen between him and his Lady afterwards. Would she remember what had happened? He didn’t know if he’d prefer her to remember or forget.

_Ladybug, you idiot._

  He couldn’t help but blame himself. Chat hadn’t meant for Ladybug to take out her earplugs when he had called out to her. He’d only meant to wave her over, explain that Erotica’s defence and attack skills were weak, and that he could easily destroy the akuma in the book with Cataclysm and then she could do the rest.

_The akuma._

  Dammit. Chat grimaced, and he hesitated as he landed and rolled along the dusty rooftop of a short building. Ladybug was the only one who could purify akuma, and there was no way they could let an akuma escape – especially one that had the potential to spread the power of Erotica. He’d just have to catch it, and hope that Ladybug had stayed put so she could purify it. There. That was the plan. Now, he just had to find the nuisance.

  When Chat arrived at the school, Erotica was nowhere to be found, and he growled under his breath as he searched the now abandoned streets, and he felt the first trickle of sweat drip down from the corner of his mask. Chat hardly ever took out akuma on his own, and in fact, the only time he really had he’d been with Marinette Dupain-Cheng anyway, taking out the Evillustrator, and Ladybug had returned just in the knick of time. But this time he really was alone. Ladybug had no interest in taking down Erotica, and if anything, wanted Chat to fall under the akuma’s spell too.

_Nah_. Chat Noir decided then and there that he hated erotica of all sorts.

  Chat finally found the source of his problems, reading from her book as if she were preaching on a Sunday morning in Church, and he took a deep breath as he readjusted the earbuds in his ears and altered the volume as loud as it would let him.

_Hang on, Ladybug. You’ll be back to normal in no time._

  He landed on his feet when he hit the ground, and Erotica spun on him, mouth open but unmoving, and novel open in front of her. She narrowed her eyes at him, as if he were some cockroach that she’d sprayed a thousand times with bug spray but still hadn’t died, and Chat had to admit that was exactly what he felt like. He’d run in to her a few times now, twice before Ladybug had even showed up, a third time when he was with Ladybug – and then she’d gotten herself trapped under Erotica’s spell – and the fourth time was now, once again on his own.

  Chat had tried being careful before, watching her from afar to calculate her strengths and weaknesses. Truth was, she didn’t have many strengths at all – at least, once he’d managed to block out the sound of her voice. That was the only thing Erotica had going for her, and without it, she was insignificant enough for Chat to take out on his own.

  Or at least, that’s what he hoped.

  He didn’t waste any time with stupid puns or witty one-liners, and instead, with his eyebrows furrowing in concentration beneath his mask, called out, “ _Cataclysm_!”

  Dangerous, but Chat Noir didn’t care anymore. He trusted himself not to accidently touch Erotica, and before he could talk himself out of it, he was charging towards her. He could see her lips moving – he wasn’t sure whether she was reading from her book, if she was talking to him, or maybe even Hawkmoth, but Chat was close now, and this time, he would end the carnal carnage Erotica had wrought over Paris.

_Chat, I know your bad luck is inevitable, but please don’t screw this up._

  Erotica dodged his first lunge, and Chat hissed through his teeth. She was faster than he’d anticipated, and instead of reacting, she dodged back a few steps. He had already known that she wasn’t skilled in attacking, but if she kept dodging his advances, he’d be just as screwed.

  “Come on,” Chat muttered underneath his breath, although he hadn’t heard it over the blare of his music, and he tried again, lunging left and then a quick right to try to trick her, but Erotica had skipped back five steps altogether, and Chat grasped at thin air. He watched as she mouthed something, not words from her book because she’d been staring right over his shoulder as she had said it. With a trickle of alarm, Chat tore around to look behind him, but he was met with an empty street, and when he turned back, Erotica had took off in a sprint.

   That was new.

  She must have realised that Chat wasn’t able to hear her and took off to go terrorise some other innocent civilian, but Chat wasn’t about to let her get away that easily. He bound after her, pushing off on all fours to gain speed and momentum, and he had to be careful with the hand that held his destructive power, because one touch, and he might just kill someone. He leapt from the windshield of a small car, and judging by the fogginess of the windows, he supposed that there were people inside. He reminded himself that it was wrong – very wrong – to imagine that it could have been him and Ladybug, and pounced onto the fleeing akuma, jaw dropping as the book was sent sailing through the air.

  When his senses came back to him, he scrambled off the woman, clambering over her body as he raced to beat her to the akumatised novel before she could so much as grasp what had just happened. His claws scratched at the road, and he climbed to his feet, leather tail whipping behind him as he tore into a sprint. He swiped the book, turned to face Erotica, and destroyed it just as she scrambled to her feet. The book disintegrated into nothing more than dust, and Chat felt the weight of the world lift off his shoulders.

_Okay, My Lady. Half of it’s over now._

  He eyed the purple butterfly as it quickly fluttered away from him, but he snatched it into his two hands and kept it trapped inside them, contemplating what would happen if he squished it, but decided it would be best to leave it to Ladybug’s purifying powers. As he shuffled the akuma into one hand, Erotica – or who had once been Erotica – stumbled out of her daze and stared dumbly at Chat.

  As he pulled the earbuds from his ears and pocketed the music player in a small leather satchel on his belt, he said, “Hey, you’re okay now.”

  “Chat Noir?” She questioned, and she shook her head. She looked young, at least in her twenties or thirties, and Chat was surprised. He’d expected her to be older. “What happened? What’s going on?”

  “I’m really sorry,” Chat apologised, and he was sincere. “I wish I could stay to help get you sorted, but I’ve really got to go.” He held up his closed fist as if to prove his point, and he saluted once before extending his baton and dropped onto one of the many rooftops in Paris.

  And now, the hardest part.

  Facing Ladybug.

 

* * *

 

 

When Chat Noir returned, he felt as small as an insect.

  His heart was in his throat, and the stupid akuma in his fist was relentlessly flying around as if it had a chance of getting free. There was absolutely no way Chat was letting that sucker go anytime soon. He was surprised at how uneasy he felt, how nervous and anxious his body was, but most of all, he was surprised to see that Ladybug was sitting in the exact same spot that he’d left her in. For a short moment, Chat was relieved. He’d suspected that as soon as he’d dealt with Erotica, things would return to normal and Ladybug’s new attitude would cease to exist. But as Chat’s boots scuffed against the rooftop, Ladybug’s head snapped up to watch him, eyes stalking him like he was prey and she was predator.

  Chat’s hand tightened around the akuma.

  “My Lady,” Chat tried to announce cheerfully, but it was evidently forced, and he cringed at himself. “You won’t believe what the _Chat_ dragged in.”

  Ladybug clambered to her feet, and her lips pulled into a wide grin. “I was just beginning to think that you’d left me here and gone home.”

  “Would I do that to you?” Chat grinned, and he had to remind himself of the situation that he’d gotten himself into. He held his fist out, the akuma dancing inside, and Ladybug cocked a brow. “I believe that you’re the only one who can help me out with this.”

  Ladybug hummed, and she stepped forward as she pushed Chat’s fist back down to his side. Her arms snaked around his neck, deliberately slow so she could rake the tips of her gloved fingers over his shoulders. “Kitty, it seems that you’ve forgotten the deal we’ve made.”

  Inside, Chat was screaming.

  He’d really thought that taking out Erotica would return Ladybug to normal, and when he returned with the akuma, she would purify it without any questions. Man, had he been wrong.

  “I’ll follow through after you’ve purified the akuma.”

  Ladybug’s arms stiffened around his neck. “No. That wasn’t our deal.” Her eyes narrowed, and Chat thought he could feel her fingers digging below the collar of his suit. “You said if I stayed here, then you’d do whatever I asked.”

_I’d expected that you’d be back to normal and wouldn’t want me to do whatever you asked._

  Chat hadn’t realised that he’d been holding his breath until his lungs began to burn, and he nodded as he breathed out. “Alright.” He was getting impatient. He needed the akuma cleansed, and the fastest way to get that to happen was to do as Ladybug said. “One thing. You can ask me to do one thing, and then you purify the akuma.”

  Ladybug pouted, and when she brought her face closer towards Chat’s, the tips of their noses touching, Chat audibly swallowed. “No deal.”

  “Ladybug,” he hissed through gritted teeth.

  “Let me remind you, Kitty.” She trailed her fingers down his spine. “Our deal was for me to stay put while you left, and if I kept my end of the bargain, you’d let me do whatever I wanted. I’ve kept my end, now you need to keep yours.”

  With his free hand, Chat reached behind his back and seized Ladybug’s hands, keeping them pinned at her wrists. “Let’s add on to our deal.”

  Ladybug’s mouth curved into a satisfied smile, and she stepped even closer. Chat had to lean back – he could already feel her breath on his lips. “What do you have in mind?”

  “Our original deal will still stand,” Chat suggested, and he jerked when Ladybug pressed her mouth to the side of his throat. “But I get to choose what happens.”

  Ladybug pulled back, her eyebrows furrowing with displeasure beneath her polka-dotted mask. “That’s not fair –”

  “Be quiet,” he snapped, and when annoyance crossed Ladybug’s face, he hurried to say, “Just listen to what I have to say, okay?”

  “I’m growing impatient. I’m sure I can find anyone else to satisfy me.”

  Chat had to keep himself from screaming.

  “I choose what happens,” Chat repeated as calmly as he could, but he was seconds away from ripping the akuma to shreds and hoping that worked as a substitute for Ladybug’s purifying powers. “Then you cleanse the akuma, and you can choose what to do after.”

  Ladybug blinked at him. “Tempting,” she crooned, and her hands twitched in Chat’s grasp. “But I want to choose the first time, and the second time. And you know what? Maybe I won’t even cleanse the akuma, because I’d like to choose again for the third time, and then the fourth, and the fifth.”

  Chat hadn’t meant to stare at her, weary of her boldness, but he hadn’t ever thought he would miss the times where he was the one hitting on Ladybug, and she was the one rejecting him. He needed the akuma cleansed, and now he wasn’t so sure that Ladybug would be much help to him at all. She wasn’t herself, but she wasn’t dumb – Ladybug knew that once the akuma was cleansed, she’d go back to normal, and although the idea of getting with Ladybug didn’t particularly bother Chat, he’d much prefer to know that she wanted him for him, and not because of Erotica’s influence.

  Ladybug had decided to acknowledge Chat’s silence as acceptance, and she struggled to pull her hands out from his grip. Her lips parted as she pressed a warm kiss on his jawbone, and she flicked her finger against the bell at his sternum before pressing her hands down on his shoulders.

  “Good Kitty,” Ladybug murmured, lips at his earlobe as she pushed him to the rooftop floor, and Chat was torn between guilt and the butterflies in his stomach. His hands hit the dusty ground, and he floundered to keep his hold on the akuma in his fist as Ladybug crouched in front of him, on her hands and knees as she crawled towards him.

  “H-hey,” Chat started nervously, face flushing as Ladybug let her weight press down into his lap, and his hand shifted uneasily to her waist. “You’re not going to do anything extreme, right?”

  “Why?” Ladybug asked, and her finger toyed with the small zipper beneath the bell on Chat’s suit. She pulled it down an inch before focusing her attention on his lips. “Is there something I could do that would be too extreme for you, Chat Noir?”

  “I’ve changed my mind. How about I buy you an ice-cream, instead?”

  Ladybug shook her head, and with a slow grin, she murmured, “I’d much prefer to lick you instead.”

  Chat turned beetroot red.

  “Don’t you think it’s a little unhygienic to lick people?”

  “You tell me, Kitty,” Ladybug said, and when Chat stared at her, cheeks burning red, she smiled and tapped the side of her throat. Chat shook his head. “Come on. Anything I asked, remember?”

  Chat swallowed. “And then you’ll cleanse the akuma?”

  Ladybug’s lips pursed, and her fingers toyed with the hair at the nape of Chat’s neck as she leant into him, humming under her breath. He could only stare at her, his heart thumping hard in his chest, and he carefully moved his hand from her waist to the hem of her spandex suit, fingers gingerly prying at the material. He felt Ladybug sigh against him, her thighs tightening around his, and it was as if Chat’s heart was in his throat as his tongue made contact with the warm and smooth skin of Ladybug’s throat. Ladybug gasped out and ground down against him as his tongue trailed up her neck and along her jawbone, and Chat grabbed her waist, jaw tense as he tried to still her.

  “Don’t do that,” Chat hissed through his teeth, and he shifted beneath her as Ladybug pushed herself onto her knees. She had gone still, her forehead pressed into the leather material of Chat’s suit, and he heard her stop breathing as she slowly lifted her head and stood. “Ladybug?” Chat asked, the sound of his heart beating loudly in his ears as he got to his feet.

  “The akuma,” she said, and her gaze glued to the floor. “I need to purify it.”

  Chat stared dumbly, and he shook himself out of his stupor as he held out his fist, waiting for Ladybug to slowly retrieve her yoyo, and with a frown, released the purple butterfly into the sky. It inched upwards, and Ladybug let it, as if allowing it to think it had a chance of freedom, but in the last moment, she snatched it up and seized the yoyo back. Chat watched her in dead silence as she released the now purified, white butterfly – no _‘bye bye, butterfly_ ’ this time.

  He scratched the back of his neck with his clawed fingertips, unsmiling because Ladybug hadn’t said anything – hadn’t done anything. She was standing there, staring down at the ground as if it were her most favourite thing in the entire world. Chat wasn’t too sure what to say.

_Welcome back? Sorry I licked your neck but you left me with no choice?_

  Should he apologise? Chat felt somewhat stupid. If he’d waited a few more moments, resisted her for just that little longer, Ladybug would’ve snapped herself out of it. He felt anxious, his stomach doing flips – and not in a good way.

  Although, the more he watched her, the more Chat realised that Ladybug didn’t want either of them to say a single thing. Her shoulders were hunched, defeated, and her posture slumped and small. Her face looked paler than usual, and her hands gripped tightly onto her arms, as if she were afraid to touch anything.

  Chat nodded to himself, and then he turned, extending his baton, and for the second time that day, dropped from the rooftop and left Ladybug all on her own.

_Don’t look back._

  He told himself that over and over again as he quickly made his way through Paris, somewhat relieved that the streets had begun to fill up once more, and he skidded to a stop when his eyes landed on the woman he’d known as Erotica. An assembly of journalists, photographers, and police had gathered by her, and Chat sucked in a deep breath as he dropped down beside her.

  Chat Noir flashed a bright smile, flaunted a double thumbs up at the blinking cameras, and pretended that he couldn’t hear the questions asking where Ladybug was.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okk so this is the end of the introduction (I guess? ??) of the story, and now we can start to slowly move onto doing the (consensual) do
> 
> thank you for all the kudos and comments, I read and appreciate them all so hopefully we can keep that coming  
> thanks for reading !!


	3. Chapter 3

“Chat Noir, what are your thoughts on the latest akuma?”

  “Well, generally not good,” Chat Noir joked, a brilliant grin spread over his face as he lingered by the many journalists battling for his attention. “It’s usually not good news when an akuma shows up. Means someone’s having a _chat_ astrophic day.”

  Marinette resisted the urge to roll her eyes as she peered down at her mobile phone, oblivious to anyone and anything in front or around her as she leisurely walked towards Francoise Dupont College.

  The interview was recorded the day before, after Chat Noir and Ladybug had dealt with Erotica’s antics, and although Marinette was watching it on the Ladyblog at eight o’clock in the morning, she knew that the interview would circulate over the news and social media for the next few days. That’s how it always was – news about akuma and Ladybug and Chat Noir never died too quickly.

  “Chat Noir!” Another interviewer off the screen, but it seemed that every reporter on the scene was leeching footage and statements from one another. Chat turned to the side, and the cameraman – Marinette supposed it was Alya – skipped hastily to the side to capture his face again. “Where’s Ladybug? Why hasn’t she come down yet?”

  “Ladybug’s helping other victims around town,” Chat explained, so casually and coolly that Marinette was almost convinced he might just be telling the truth. It was a lie, of course – she knew that personally. “We decided to split up and help as many people as we could after we took down Erotica.”

  “Stupid Chat,” Marinette muttered, and she glanced up for a split second to check that she wasn’t walking out in front of a moving car. “Why are you lying for me?”

  “Can we get any comments on the photographs?”

  Chat blinked, and beneath his black mask, his eyebrow roused, “What photographs?”

  “The photographs of you and Ladybug. Can we assume that you’re a couple?”

  A nervous chuckle from Chat, and he scratched the back of his neck. “I’d rather not say anything about that without Ladybug here.”

  The screen that showed Chat Noir minimized, and beside it, appeared two pictures captioned, ‘CANOODLING HEROES?’ Marinette squeaked. She’d already seen them – Alya, of course, had sent them to her mobile phone before she’d posted them to the blog.

  “ ** _Can you believe it_?** ” She’d texted at six thirty in the morning. “ ** _Ladybug and Chat Noir are a thing! Oh my god_!** ”

  The first picture showed Chat Noir, pushed up against a wall on an empty rooftop with Ladybug pressed snuggly against him, fingers knotted in his blonde hair as she kissed him. The second picture showed a similar position, except Chat was looking directly at the camera, an expression crossed between shock and frustration on his face, and Ladybug was gazing at him as if he were a five star dessert served on fancy china. Needless to say, Marinette had blushed a dangerously bright shade of red and screamed bloody murder when she’d first seen them on the screen of her mobile. She’d also felt mortified, and furious – at herself, not at Chat – and oh, she’d felt beyond guilty as hell.

  “But is it true?” A shrill yell, and Chat twisted around again, Alya rushing to keep up, and Marinette briefly caught the flushed face of the teenage girl who’d caught Chat’s attention. “Are you off the market now? Are you and Ladybug dating?”

  Chat hesitated before he said, “Well, no. I wouldn’t say that, but –”

  “So you’re single?”

  “Yes, but –”

  “What about the photographs then?”

  “I’d rather not say without Ladybug here.” Chat’s chest rose – he’d taken a deep breath – and he held up his hands, clawed fingers curled slightly as he tried to diffuse his delirious fans.

  "Can we get an official statement when Ladybug is here?"

  “How about we move on from anything to do with relationships and photographs?”

  Marinette felt a pang of sympathy for her crime-fighting partner, and her breath hitched as she exited out of the Ladyblog, switching off her phone to slip it into her backpack. She glanced around her before she unclasped her small purse, and Tikki fluttered out, forcing Marinette to a stop as she hovered in front of her face. “Tikki,” Marinette sighed. “I wish I hadn’t left Chat to deal with _that_ all on his own.”

  “It probably would have been a good idea to stay with him, yes,” the red kwami agreed, nodding her small head thoughtfully. “But that’s in the past now. You can’t change what happened, but you can try and resolve it now.”

  “But what would I say to him?” Marinette whined, and she hid her face with her hands. “I can’t face him after what happened.”

  “Chat Noir is your partner. He will understand.”

  Marinette peeked out from thin slits between her fingers. “Tikki. Chat Noir likes Ladybug. I always thought he was just joking around – he’s a flirt – but after what happened with Erotica...” The tips of her ears grew hot and she huffed.

  “Are you sure that he likes Ladybug?”

  The question might’ve hurt Marinette if it had come from anyone but Tikki, but she knew better than to believe that her kwami would ever purposely hurt her. The question wasn’t farfetched – how did Marinette really know that Chat Noir genuinely liked Ladybug? She didn’t really have a good explanation other than she’d seen it – seen how he had looked at her, distressed but yearning for something more than just a causal hook-up; and the way his voice had slipped that time he’d tried to deny her. She could hardly keep it from replaying over and over in her mind:

_I don’t want you!_

  It had been strained, filled with longing, and Marinette had just known.

  “Chat Noir likes Ladybug,” she repeated. “And I can’t face him after what I’ve done.”

  Tikki’s round eyes stared up at her, innocent and sincere. “Marinette, would it honestly be any easier for you to face him if he didn’t love Ladybug?”

_Love_. It sent a shockwave through Marinette’s body.

  “Are you sure there’s not another reason why you’re ignoring him?” Tikki continued.

  Vivid images of Ladybug ‘ _canoodling’_ with Chat Noir burned into her brain, and Marinette shook her head frantically.

  “That’s not the point, Tikki,” Marinette argued, and she threw her hands in the air as she stormed onward. “The point is that I do know, and that I don’t know how to face him.”

  “Don’t you think you’re being a little selfish?” Tikki probed, zipping after her to land on Marinette’s shoulder. “Chat Noir at least deserves to know that you’re not upset with him.”

  Marinette’s eyes narrowed as she unclasped her purse. “Into the purse.”

  Tikki’s eyes narrowed in return, but she did as she was told and slipped into the purse, muttering a quiet ‘ _selfish’_ before Marinette closed the clasp. The kwami was right of course, but Marinette reminded herself that it was highly unlikely that Tikki had experienced the feeling of mortification, and so Marinette felt gratified ignoring her advice – at least for now. She knew that she couldn’t ignore Chat forever; they were a team after all, and she needed him. Marinette had, however, skipped last night’s patrol that she and Chat had scheduled two days before Erotica had showed up.

  Chat had still gone, though. She’d found out from Alya’s Ladyblog when she’d posted an update that stated: ‘SUPERHERO SIGHTING: CHAT NOIR AT THE ARC DE TRIOMPHE.’

  Marinette had been wondering what Chat might’ve been doing to busy himself during the patrol – they hardly ever went by themselves, hardly ever found trouble, and mostly talked and joked around the entire time – when an arm draped over her shoulder, startling her out of her daydreams.

  “So, tell me,” Alya began, lips pursed as she stared Marinette down. “How’d you lose your phone? Because I know you wouldn’t have ignored my numerous texts this morning.”

  “Sorry Alya.” Marinette offered her best friend a sheepish smile. “I slept in and didn’t have the time to reply. I did read them though.”

  “Eh, it’s okay,” Alya shrugged, and she retracted her arm from Marinette’s shoulders to fidget with her phone. “Did you see my video of Chat Noir from yesterday? I was a little bummed that Ladybug wasn’t there, but Chat’s face _totally_ gave it away.”

  Marinette frowned. “Gave what away?”

  “That he loves Ladybug.”

  Marinette winced. So even fans like Alya knew?

  “Ah, it’s so adorable,” Alya continued, her mouth turned upwards into a content smile as she pocketed her mobile phone and tightened the straps on her bag. “I feel for all the fan girls – and fan boys – but Ladybug and Chat Noir are made for each other.”

  “But Chat said that he’s single in the video.”

  “True. They have a fan base, you know? They might want to keep their relationship under wraps.” Alya skipped ahead a few steps, and then she swung around to face Marinette, hands on her hips. “Relationship or not, a picture speaks a thousand words, and we got two.”

  “Those pictures were leaked,” Marinette argued, and she nudged Alya with her shoulder as she past her. “They probably never intended on anyone finding out about whatever was going on.”

  “Well, I guess,” Alya agreed slowly, and she shrugged. “But can you really blame whoever it was for leaking the pictures? I mean it’s Ladybug and Chat Noir, Mari. _Kissing_.”

  “Sounds a lot like an invasion of privacy to me.”

  “Okay, okay. You win, Marinette.” Marinette tried for a playful smile, but as they crossed into the threshold of Francoise Dupont College, she sighed instead, and Alya shot her an uncertain glance. “Relax girl. It’s only school.”

  If only school were the worst of her problems.

 

* * *

 

 

Marinette felt like a zombie.

  She could hardly focus on anything other than her daydreams, and she hadn’t completed any of the work set out for her. Alya must have noticed sometime throughout the school day, and she’d elbowed Marinette gently in the ribs while Miss Bustier focused her attention on the blackboard.

  Not only had Alya been staring at her, her mouth pulled down into a concerned frown, but Nino and Adrien, too. She’d been thinking of Chat Noir – who would have guessed? – and what she might say to him when she next saw him as Ladybug.

_I’m so, so sorry about what I did. The next time I kiss you, it’ll be because I – I mean because **we** both want to. _

  Marinette’s cheeks burned hot like an inferno and she shook her head. That wasn’t what she meant. Chat Noir was Ladybug’s partner. They joked around together, shared banter and small secrets. They fought alongside each other and trusted each other. Chat was brave, understanding, charismatic and kind, and his humour and puns weren’t all that bad, despite the way she complained about them.

  Marinette dug her palms into her eyes. Now what was she thinking? Her thoughts were too erratic, skipping from one thing to another, and she could feel the distant throbbing of a headache heading her way. Alya elbowed her again, and Marinette sighed.

  “Yes, Alya?”

  “School’s over.”

  Marinette’s palms lowered from her face as she looked over at Alya who’d already gathered her things and was standing expectantly by the edge of the desk. She slung her backpack over her shoulders as she said, “I’m going with Nino to the park. Do you want to come?”

  Adrien had long since disappeared, as had many of the other students, but Nino lingered by the door as he watched with raised eyebrows. “No, that’s okay,” Marinette answered, and she hurried to pack her things away into her bag. “I’m just going to go home.”

  “Are you sure? We want you to come.”

  Marinette nodded in response and shooed her away with her hand. “I’m sure,” Marinette reassured, smiling as she zipped up her bag. “Go on without me. I’ll message you a little later on.”

  Alya offered a lazy salute before she ran off with Nino, and Marinette shifted her backpack onto her shoulders, slipping out of the room quietly to hide in the girl’s bathroom.

  “Marinette?” Tikki asked after Marinette unclasped her purse, darting out to float in front of her. “Is everything alright?”

  “I think I just need some air for a while,” Marinette explained. “Would you mind transforming me?”

  Marinette didn’t need to ask, and Tikki didn’t bother to answer, and instead the kwami disappeared inside the miraculous, triggering Ladybug’s transformation with a flurry of glowing red. The backpack stayed, much to Marinette’s displeasure, and she decided to exit through one of the windows – she wouldn’t risk walking into the bathroom as Marinette and out again as Ladybug.

  She swung away from the school with her bottom lip between her teeth, and she paused momentarily by her house to carefully drop her bag on the balcony before she took off again.

  Ladybug didn’t really have any place in particular in mind. She only knew that the warm breeze in her face and the bright sun in her eyes were slowly easing the tension between her eyebrows, and she dropped onto the rooftop of a small building that overlooked the Arc De Triomphe. She set her yoyo back at her hip as she sat down, legs dangling over the edge of the building, and Ladybug leant back, her eyes closed as she tipped her face towards the sun. When she thought about it, Marinette wouldn’t have minded spending some time with Alya and Nino. She would have liked the company, and she supposed third wheeling was better than stewing in her own thoughts.

  “Oh well,” Ladybug murmured to herself, and as she took a deep breath in through her nose, she noticed the familiar smell of cologne mixed with leather – and if she wasn’t mistaken, she caught the faintest aroma of cheese. She was overcome with a sense of familiarity and joy – she always was – but her heart skipped a beat, and she’d swallowed a lump in her throat when she heard:

  “Good afternoon, My Lady.”

  Slowly, Ladybug cracked an eyelid. She had known it was him as soon as she’d smelt him. Seeing him in person, though, his kind green eyes and dazzling smile, still surprised her. Chat didn’t look the least bit upset or angry at her or at anything in general, and as he sat beside her, Ladybug felt her tongue tie in knots.

_That was new._

  “You didn’t come on patrol last night,” Chat continued, and his eyes finally left her to settle on the arch monument out in the distance. “I was a little lonely without you. Is everything okay? You’re not sick or anything –”

  “Is everything okay?” Ladybug repeated, sounding harsher and louder than she’d intended, and Chat visibly flinched. “You know what’s wrong.”

  “Ladybug, I’m sorry –”

  “Why are you apologising? You didn’t do anything wrong.”

  “Well, I…” Chat stopped, his gaze shifting from her left eye to her right. His eyebrows moved beneath his black mask, furrowing and unfurrowing, and Ladybug suspected that he didn’t know what to say. “You didn’t do anything wrong, either,” he finally said.

  “Do you not remember what happened?” Ladybug hissed, and she twisted her torso so she could face him. Her heart was beating painfully fast and her breath caught in her throat, but Chat watched her as if they were having any old casual conversation.

  “I remember what happened vividly, My Lady,” Chat answered, and he shot her a grin like Cheshire cat. “I’m not upset.”

  “Well I am.”

  Chat’s smile dropped as he turned away from her, and Ladybug was finally able to see all the emotions he’d been trying to hide from her. Hurt flashed across his face, and sculpted his usually cheerful expression into something entirely different. Ladybug thought she detected a hint of annoyance, and Chat’s mask inched upwards, as if his eyebrows were raised. “You’re upset because I was the one you kissed.”

  “No, that’s not – I don’t mind that it was you,” she argued, and when Chat shot her a confused side-glance, a red flush creeping out from beneath his mask, Ladybug hastily blurted, “I mean, I do mind – but not because of _you_ as an individual, I’m just – I’m upset about how it came about. I just wish that Erotica had nothing to do with it –”

  “M-my Lady?”

  Ladybug didn’t think there’d ever been a time when she’d been a flustered mess around Chat, but there she was – floundering like a fish out of water. “Wait. This isn’t coming out right. You’re confusing me.”

  “ _I’m_ confusing _you_?” Chat echoed, his voice a pitch higher than usual.

  “Chat, you’re my –” Her what? _Best friend_? She couldn’t say that knowing how he felt about her, could she? “There’s not another person on this planet that I trust as much as I trust you, and I just hate how I took advantage of you like that.”

  There was a long stretch of silence, and Ladybug could hear the beat of her heart in her ears. “Ladybug?” Chat asked slowly. “Exactly how much of what happened do you remember?”

  “Not much,” Ladybug lied, but she’d replied too quickly, and her eyes darted away an instant after they met Chat’s.

  “You know, I’ve been attacked by akuma a few times,” Chat told her, and he shifted forward to peer over the edge of the rooftop. “I don’t remember anything about what happened.”

  “Neither do I.”

  Chat glanced back at her, his voice tinged with a hint of mirth as he said, “You’re acting pretty uncomfortable about what happened considering you don’t remember anything.”

_Stupid Chat_.

  “I know enough of what happened,” Ladybug sniffed, and she leant forward to flick his ear with her index finger. “I was able to piece it together –” She was lying through her teeth, and she was sure that Chat knew. He’d seen the way she’d acted after the akuma’s spell had broken, and again just moments ago. Chat Noir wasn’t stupid – he was well aware that Ladybug remembered everything, and yet, here he was, letting her to lie about it. “I’m allowed to feel embarrassed.”

  “ _You’re_ embarrassed?” The redness had returned to Chat’s cheeks, and he turned towards Ladybug, one leg dangling from the edge of the building, the other cocked behind Ladybug’s back. “Did you watch that interview from yesterday? I had no idea what to say.”

  Ladybug smiled and she shifted her position too, legs crossed as she twisted around to face Chat. “You didn’t look embarrassed at all, Chaton.”

  Chat leant forward with a grin that spread from ear to ear, and he hummed under his breath before he teased, “I’m just a much better people person than you are.”

  “Oh, you want to bet?” Ladybug tapped the golden bell at his sternum, grinning as it let off a metallic ring.

  “Bugaboo, are you flirting with me?”

  “With you?” Ladybug scoffed. “No way.”

  “I’m _Paw_ sitively _paw_ sitive that you are.”

  Ladybug rolled her eyes as she shoved him in the shoulder. Chat tried to grab her hand, but she’d already retracted it back to safety under her chin. “Who would flirt with someone with such awful puns? They’re so unoriginal.”

  “My Lady,” Chat gasped, gloved hands shooting to his heart as he closed his eyes in feign agony. “What a _paw_ ful thing to say.”

  She had the strong urge to toss her yoyo in the direction of his head, but her thumb was tracing a delicate line over the apple of Chat's right cheek before she even knew what she was doing, and Ladybug leant forward to press a chaste kiss to the tip of Chat Noir’s nose. She jumped when he flinched beneath her, and Chat’s eyes blew open, face flushed as his lips curled into an embarrassed frown.

  “Sorry Kitty,” Ladybug apologised, and she grabbed her yoyo as she stood, brushing dust from her rear. “Do you want to hang out for a bit? Maybe we could go on patrol?”

  Chat’s face was flushed a rosy red, and Ladybug watched as he quickly scrambled to his feet. “Of course, Bugaboo.” He grinned as he reached behind him for his baton, and proceeded to twirl it between his fingers. “After you.”

  “Don’t fall behind, Kitty.” She smirked, but as soon as Ladybug turned her back on Chat, her face grew hot and her frantic heart refused to settle, and Ladybug told herself that there was absolutely _no_ way that she could possibly have a crush on Chat Noir.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just want ladybug/marinette to love chat ok  
> I just want chat to be loved ok


	4. Chapter 4

Marinette ought to apologise to Tikki.

  Tikki had been right – but then again, she always was – about meeting up with and speaking to Chat Noir, and although the two superhero’s hadn’t delved too much into what had happened with Erotica, the guilt that had been building in Marinette’s stomach was gradually ebbing away with each minute she spent with Chat. They’d competed in a non-stop running race against one another while patrolling the perimeters of Paris, and although it had left them breathless and parched, they had managed to finish their patrol in two hours – significantly shorter compared to their other slower, leisurely patrols.

  “How are you hanging in there, Kitty?” Ladybug teased, her hairline damp with perspiration and her tongue thick and dry with thirst. “Not dying I hope.”

  “Please. A professional athlete like me could do that run ten times as fast.” Chat panted, and although Ladybug wasn’t looking at him, she could practically hear the cocky grin in his voice. He was slumped on a park bench beside her, and when Ladybug glanced over at him, his tongue hung from his mouth.

  Ladybug laughed. “So you’re a dog now, not a cat?”

  Chat cast her a sideways glance. “Actually LB, this may come as a surprise to you, but I’m in fact a human being.” A chirping bird caught his attention, and he held out his arm, tapping her gently on the arm with his knuckles. “Water please.”

  “You’re right, I’m sorry,” Ladybug said, and she reached beside her for the water bottle that they’d bought, or well, been gifted at one of the grocery shops, and passed it over to her partner. “It does surprise me.”

  “ _Meow_ ch,” Chat retorted, but she could tell that he was too dog-tired to even talk out loud. It had been a little silly and irresponsible of them – if an akuma were to suddenly attack, they’d be fatigued and out of their game. He took four long gulps of water before he wheezed loudly and handed it back, and Ladybug downed a few drafts herself. “I could really go for some chocolate right now.”

  “It’s too close to dinnertime for chocolate, Chat.”

  “We wouldn’t want to get too wild,” Chat teased. “Isn’t that right, My Lady?”

  “We can go get some chocolate together another day,” she promised.

  Chat seemed to perk up at her offer, even going so far as to actually reform his posture from the melted goo it had once been against the bench, and Ladybug felt Chat’s leather tail flick against the back of her calf. “Seriously?”

  Ladybug had been taking another sip from their shared bottle and she shrugged a shoulder, wiping the lingering water away from her lips with the back of her hand. She noticed Chat staring and glanced away, screwing the cap back on tightly as she said, “I don’t see why we can’t. Just be prepared to drop whatever sweets you’ve got and run if someone needs our help.”

  “My Lady,” Chat purred, arms draped over the top rail of the bench, the tips of his clawed gloves ghosting over her shoulder. “You treat me so sweetly.”

  Ladybug glared at him. “If those were supposed to be puns, I take it all back.”

  Chat’s mouth twitched up into an askew smile and he playfully smacked the back of Ladybug’s head with his palm. She elbowed him in the ribs in return, and she could hardly help the smile that stretched across her face when he chuckled. “You know, Ladybug,” Chat said. “My civilian self is actually on a strict diet, so I’m not usually allowed to eat sweets.”

  “A diet?” Ladybug asked. “Why would you be on a diet that restricts what you eat? You body looks and moves like it’s in perfectly good shape.”

  “Well.” He made an effort of flexing his bicep muscles and leaning in close to her, and Ladybug rolled her eyes. “Although you may be right, it just so happens that my father is a bit of a control freak. He likes to approve of the food I eat.”

  She pushed Chat’s arms down, spandex-clad fingers curling into his muscle. Ladybug’s eyebrows furrowed with concern, and she watched as her partner’s green eyes flicked down and back up again. “What do you mean? So, you can’t just go out and get a quick snack without asking him first?”

 A small frown replaced the smirk on Chat’s mouth. “I guess. I mean I’m not supposed to but I do anyway. What he doesn’t know won’t hurt him. You don’t have to worry about it, LB.”

  “That’s so bizarre,” Ladybug thought out loud, and her grip around Chat slackened when she felt his muscles grow tense. “I’m sorry, I don’t mean to be rude Chat Noir. I just think it’s a little unfair. So he wouldn’t even _allow_ you to eat some chocolate every once in a while?”

  “Bugaboo.” Chat folded his arms over his chest and leant into her again, and Ladybug noticed that leather of his suit felt warm against her. “With someone as sweet as you in my life, I’m surprised my teeth haven’t already rotted.”

  “How cute,” she said dryly as she bumped him back with her shoulder. “The next time I see you, I’ll bring you something from my parent’s ba – favourite bakery. Have you got any favourites?”

  “Anything that’s red with black polka dots.”

  Ladybug narrowed her eyes at him and glared, but Chat was unfaltering and his mischievous grin and eyebrow waggle just might’ve melted an ice cap. Ladybug had always thought that Chat Noir was attractive in a physical sense – tanned skin, strong body, pretty eyes, unruly hair, straight and clean teeth, charming smile. It was no doubt that his physical looks alone could attract copious amounts of women in Paris, and Ladybug wasn’t too sure how she felt about it anymore. She’d never really thought of him as anything more than her crime-fighting partner until after the Erotica incident, and Ladybug couldn’t help but feel guilty that it had taken her to mindlessly force herself onto him for her to recognise Chat in a romantic sense. Sure, he flirted with her and she flirted back occasionally – but that was just Chat Noir being himself. He flirted with everyone all the time, so it was harmless fun.

  She watched his lips stir and felt the tips of her ears burn.

_He had been pretty good with those lips, hadn’t he?_

  “ _Ladybug!_ ” Chat shouted, and Ladybug flinched as he snapped his fingers in front of her face. The right corner of his mouth twitched upwards an inch. “Hey. Stop bugging out on me.”

  “How many other girls do you flirt with beside me?” Ladybug asked, and she’d thought that it had been a relatively innocent question until she saw the pink flush sneak out from beneath Chat’s mask.

  “Uh, Ladybug?” Chat chuckled sheepishly, and he shot her a slow smile as he pointed a gloved finger in front of them. “This is Alya from the Ladyblog and her friend Nino.”

  Ladybug blinked, and as she turned from Chat Noir and to the aspiring journalist stood in front of her, she began screaming inside her head. Alya Césaire wore a self-satisfied grin as she waved with one hand and held her mobile with the other, ladybug phone charm swinging to and fro. “Did we come at a bad time?” Alya asked.

  “Trouble in paradise?” Nino added.

  “No!” Ladybug smiled nervously, and she elbowed Chat in the ribs as she stood up, dusting the back of her suit with her hands. “Sorry. Did you come over for an interview? We’ve got spare time.”

  Alya beamed, and Ladybug noticed Nino gazing across at her fondly. “Is that alright? You wouldn’t mind, would you?”

  “Of course not,” Chat Noir interjected, and he pushed himself off the park bench to stand beside his partner, hands at his hips. As Alya fiddled with her phone and murmured a few hushed words to Nino, Chat glanced over at Ladybug, eyebrow roused beneath his mask. She ignored him and smiled when Alya directed her phone’s camera at the duo.

  “Chat Noir, I’d like to ask you something first.”

  Chat’s attention snapped from Ladybug and to Alya and he hesitated, as if he hadn’t been expecting to be apart of the interview at all. “Sure.”

  “Some people have been saying that they saw you capturing Erotica’s akuma by yourself,” Alya stated, and Ladybug felt her heart in her throat. “Is that true?”

  “Ladybug and I decided to split up so we could eliminate as much danger in the city as possible.”

  “But wouldn’t it make more sense for Ladybug to go after Erotica since she’s the only one who can capture it properly?”

  Chat visibly froze up for a split moment. He had been doing a lot better in the interviews the day before and he’d had reporters coming at him from all angles. Ladybug chewed on her bottom lip as her stare shifted between Chat and Alya, and she came to the conclusion that she must’ve been putting pressure on him.

  “We didn’t really plan it out,” Chat explained, and he rolled his shoulders in a lazy shrug as he held his hand out, palm facing upwards. “Our best strategy was to split up and stop as many people as we could from getting into serious trouble. I just happened to wander into Erotica, and I already knew that the akuma was in her book, so I captured it and took it back to Ladybug to cleanse.”

  Alya cocked an eyebrow, lips pursing in what Ladybug thought might have been humour. “So, you just carried the akuma around until you found Ladybug?”

  “Well, I do have _Chat_ like reflexes.” He bumped Ladybug with his shoulder, as if he were waiting for her to laugh at his joke. She rolled her eyes.

  “I found Erotica’s attack on Paris to be pretty challenging,” Ladybug interjected.

  “Yeah. Very _provocative_.”

  “Chat.”

  “I’m assuming that you know of the buzz that’s been revolving around the both of you since the pictures were released late yesterday evening?” Alya continued, and she straightened her glasses on the bridge of her nose. “Are you –”

  “I actually haven’t seen the pictures myself,” Chat interrupted, and Ladybug let out a quiet whine. He looked across at her, bright green eyes settling on her casually as he asked, “Have you seen them?”

  “Nino!” Alya blurted, and her maniacal grin was far too delighted for Marinette’s liking. “Can you bring them up on your phone?”

_Divert. Divert. Divert._

  “Nino?” Ladybug repeated curiously, flashing the most innocent smile she could muster up. “You’re the DJ, right?”

  “Huh? Oh yeah.” Nino nodded at her, but he was focused on the screen of his mobile phone, and suddenly Ladybug felt butterflies dancing in the pit of her stomach. “Aspiring DJ.”

  “That’s pretty cool,” Ladybug complimented and she had to pause to swallow a forming lump in her throat. “Are you Alya’s boyfriend?”

  “Under consideration,” Alya laughed.

  Ladybug’s stare zeroed in on Alya. That sly little – she hadn’t told Marinette anything about her and Nino’s relationship! When she shot a sideways glance at Chat Noir, she recognised surprise in his expression as well. However, it quickly morphed into a glowing, red blush that spread across his face, because Nino held the screen of his mobile phone out for the crime-fighting duo to see, and Ladybug’s eyes seemed transfixed to Chat.

  “Oh would you look at that,” Chat chuckled, his clawed fingertips moving to scratch the back of his neck, and he flashed Ladybug a stunning smile. “That is one vivid photograph – oh wait, there’s two. At least they got my good side.”

  Ladybug was mere seconds away from punching him.

  “I don’t want to seem rude, but I have to ask,” Alya said, and Ladybug fleetingly pressed the tips of her fingers to her heated cheeks as she dragged her eyes from Chat Noir’s. “Is this a real kiss?”

  Ladybug felt as if she’d been punched in the stomach. Alya! – How could she ask something like that so out of the blue? Luckily, Chat wasn’t as shocked.

  “You mean were one of us attacked by Erotica?” He asked, and Ladybug had to remind herself to remain cool – she was being recorded. She glanced over at him, and he was already looking at her. “We didn’t really want to say anything about it earlier because we hadn’t talked about it. Not only do we have a pretty large fan base but we’ve also got our secret identities, so dating can be a little tricky.”

_Chat, where are you going with this?_

  “We hadn’t really thought that someone would sneak up on us –”

  “Chat,” Ladybug interrupted.

  Chat acknowledged her for all but three seconds. “It can be seen as kind of a blessing now though –”

  “Chat,” Ladybug snapped sternly, and her hand closed around his arm like steel as she glanced over at Alya and asked, “Can you just give us a minute?” Ladybug hadn’t waited for Alya’s answer though, and she towed Chat a few metres to the side, hidden behind the thick trunk of a tree. “What do you think you’re doing?”

  “What does it look like?” Chat’s voice was barely above a whisper, but he sounded firm and if Ladybug was hearing right, even a little annoyed. “I’m keeping everyone from finding out what happened with Erotica.”

  “By telling them that we’re dating.”

  “Well.” He folded his arms over his chest. “I wasn’t going to say that we were officially dating. Wouldn’t you rather Paris to think we were together instead of the reality of what happened? You said you were embarrassed by it. I’m just trying to help.”

  “But you shouldn’t have to lie for me!” Ladybug hissed. “It’s going to affect your life too. Do you want everyone to think Chat Noir and Ladybug are in a romantic relationship when we’re not?”

  Chat shrugged, his slender fingers tapping against his leather suit. “I don’t mind what other people think, My Lady. I only care what you think.”

  “But you –” Ladybug cut herself short. _But what? You’re in love with Ladybug – for real?_ She sucked in a deep breath and found herself watching the way Chat’s chest raised and fell as he breathed. “Are you sure you’re okay with this?”

  “It’s not like I was going to use my identity as Chat Noir to pick up girls. Oh, and by the way – none. I don’t flirt with any other girls except for you. What was with that anyway?” Chat unfolded his arms, and his hands returned back to his hips as he leant forward. “Bugaboo, don’t tell me you’re jealous.”

  “Jealous?” Ladybug repeated, and she scoffed. She’d started her march back over to her two school friends, and Alya, noticing the superheroes return, quickly snapped her phone back into the perfect recording position. “Why would I need to be jealous? Besides, you just told me that you don’t flirt with anyone but me.”

  “And that pleases My Lady?” Chat asked.

  Weirdly enough it did please her, but there was no way Ladybug was going to admit that out loud.

  “I’m sorry about that,” Ladybug apologised when they finally returned to their places in front of Alya, and she offered the Ladyblog founder a sincere smile. “I guess I was just a little shy about it all.”

  “Shy about what, Ladybug?” Alya probed.

  Ladybug risked a glimpse over at Chat, but his attention was focused elsewhere, and he was sporting a grin that spread from one ear to the other.

_Stupid Chat._

  “Well, Chat Noir and I – we’re dating.”

 

* * *

 

Ladybug and Chat Noir.

  The bug and cat team.

  Paris’s favourite (and only) superheroes.

  And now, they were dating.

  Adrien was sure that his brain was going to short-circuit.

  Well, in all honesty, they weren’t _actually_ dating because it was all for show but Adrien didn’t mind because his heart was already fluttering and he was seconds – _seconds –_ away from swooning into his beloved Lady’s arms. He might just have if he had been in his civilian self, but he was the superhero Chat Noir at that moment, and he could not under _any_ circumstances faint into Ladybug’s arms because she’d _just_ declared their fake relationship to the creator of the Ladyblog. If he did that, he might just dig himself a grave and climb into it.

  Although, he couldn’t help but notice how Ladybug had been acting a little off. At first, Chat had held the Erotica incident liable for her behaviour, but then her attitude had adapted into something else. She was flirtier than usual, asked him if he flirted with many other girls, and then – **red alert**.

  Ladybug had _kissed_ Chat Noir.

  It had been an innocent nose kiss, but it still sent Chat’s heart aflutter.

  He couldn’t concentrate on any one thing for more than five seconds, and his attention was all over the place. He was gazing at Ladybug one moment, looking across at Alya the next, and Chat’s breath hitched because he was entirely certain that Ladybug was clutching onto the cuff of his leather glove. Her fingers were trembling slightly, and Chat’s eyes settled on hers, but she was still speaking to Alya and he could only stare at the sparkling blue that he’d come to love. His Ladybug – a superhero of Paris – was nervous and gripping onto him for support, and Chat was more than happy to oblige.

  Chat shook her hand off his so he could thread his fingers through hers, and Ladybug’s head snapped towards him, lips parted and pale cheeks flushed, but all he was thinking about was his Lady’s hand in his, and how after his many numerous attempts, Ladybug’s fingers were finally curled around his. She wasn’t trying to throw him off, wasn’t glaring and wasn’t shooting unimpressed looks, and Chat was desperately telling himself that it had nothing to do with their new fake relationship.

  Ladybug could hold his hand just because she felt like it – there didn’t need to be another explanation.

  “Oh, I’m sorry,” Alya apologised. Chat had briefly heard her chatting to Ladybug about the blog, but he’d spaced out some time along the way. “I didn’t realise the time. I didn’t mean to keep you out this long.”

  “It’s fine!” Ladybug reassured, as polite as ever, and Chat thought that his partner looked the littlest bit relieved. “We should probably take off though. As nice as it was talking to you, we’ve got other commitments.”

  “Thanks Ladybug and Chat Noir.” Alya grinned widely, and as she linked arms with Nino, she waved her mobile phone in the air. “Be sure to check out the blog sometime soon, okay?”

  Chat Noir hadn’t even realised that it had gotten so late. It seemed like mere moments ago that he and Ladybug were racing across Paris, and now the sun had only just disappeared behind the horizon and he was standing with Ladybug beneath the blossoming glow of the streetlamps. His father would most likely sent Nathalie to retrieve him for dinner soon, and as much as Adrien would have loved to spend just a little more time with Ladybug, the last thing he wanted was Nathalie and his father down his throat demanding where he had been.

  “You see?” Chat Noir declared after Alya and Nino had left the park and idled down the Parisian streets. “That wasn’t so bad, was it?”

  “Oh we haven’t seen anything yet. You just wait until she posts the interview,” Ladybug countered, and she swung their entwined hands back and forth as her gaze followed the retreating blogger. “Hey, Chat? Thank you for always protecting me.”

  He didn’t speak until she’d looked back at him. “We’re a team.”

  “I know but still. Thank you.” Her hand slowly slipped from his and she smiled sweetly at him – it reminded Adrien of someone else he knew, but he just couldn’t place his finger on who – as she reached for her yoyo. “I better go. I’ll see you later Chat Noir.” Ladybug turned and skipped forwards a few steps, yoyo spinning in her skilled hand, but she hesitated and twisted around to say, “Hey Chat? If you’re up for it, I’d really like a redo on that kiss one day.”

  Chat was glad that Ladybug had taken off before she could hear him squeak.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ah yes, the fake dating trope. totally platonic and/or one-sided.  
> yay guys thanks for all the comments and kudos, hope you enjoy (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧


	5. Chapter 5

It might’ve been the nicest Saturday afternoon that Paris had experienced since the beginning of Fall; a nice breeze finished with a cloudless, sunny sky. Adrien could have thought of a thousand ways to be spending it, and in fact, he was supposed to be having lunch with Nino in about – fifteen minutes ago. His best friend hadn’t seemed too bothered when he had texted that he was running late, since Nino was most likely accustomed to Adrien’s sudden and mostly unexplained disappearances by now. Adrien didn’t like lying to Nino, since he was his first and only best friend that he had ever had, but it’d unfortunately come close to second nature.

**‘Running late. Got home too late last night – getting lectured now’** was the response Adrien had decided to go with, which, wasn’t technically a lie. He had been out for too long the previous night because he’d spent the entire afternoon with Ladybug, and by the time he had gotten home, he had missed the call for dinner and his father had been far from pleased. Adrien had mostly managed to block out eighty per cent of the lecture, still floating on cloud nine from his time spent with his Lady, and all he could do was bite down on his bottom lip so neither his father or Nathalie could point out the dopey grin on his face. He could still hear the last thing Ladybug had said to him that day, the image of her blushing face and sweet smile seared into his retinas for what he hoped would be forever, and back then, he had squealed so unbelievably loud that a few concerned civilians had even stopped to ask him – the _great_ superhero Chat Noir – if everything was alright. Needless to say, he hadn’t been able to speak without breaking into a fit of squeals, so he’d smiled as best as he could and given them a double thumbs up as reassurance.

  Adrien had never been so sure about anything in his entire life, but he damn well knew that Ladybug would be the death of him.

  He’d be lying if he said that he hadn’t jumped at the opportunity to transform that Saturday afternoon – the afternoon that he’d already previously made plans for with his best friend Nino – for the sole purpose of seeing Ladybug again. His heart had practically leapt out of his chest the moment he’d heard that Ladybug had been spotted swinging around the city, and by the time he’d learned about the robbery currently going down at one of Paris’s most expensive jewellery stores, he was already vaulting through the streets.

_Sorry Nino, but My Lady is My Lady after all._

  And so, on the nicest Saturday afternoon since the beginning of Fall, Adrien took on the persona of superhero Chat Noir, and abandoned his previously made plans to be with the girl he loved.

  Chat saw the flashing blue and white against the buildings before he’d even dropped to the floor, and he let the butt of his baton smack against the road in-between two police cars before swiftly gliding down. One officer flinched at the sight of him, surprised at his sudden appearance, but otherwise said nothing as Chat quickly assessed the situation. None of the officers had their weapons drawn, and judging by the comfortable manner that he had dropped in on, Chat supposed that the burglars had already been dealt with and the situation diffused.

  “They’ve already been arrested,” the officer told him as if he’d read Chat’s mind, and Chat folded his arms over his chest, bottom lip jutting out into a pout. “Ladybug dealt with them.”

  Chat’s frown vanished within a second.

  “Is she still here?” Chat asked.

  “She’s inside.” He nodded, and he flashed a knowing grin. “Guess you two will have some spare time on your hands then, huh?”

  It could have been an innocent remark, and Chat tried to play it off as being one, but he knew better. All of Paris had seen the somewhat heated photographs of him and Ladybug, and although he hadn’t checked Alya’s Ladyblog, he was willing to bet that most of Paris was now aware that Ladybug and Chat Noir were officially ‘dating.’ His cheeks felt hot, but his mask concealed the majority of the budding blush, and Chat spun his baton over his knuckles twice as he strode towards the jewellery shop.

  Ladybug sauntered into view just as Chat stepped up to the door, and the only thing that kept them from smacking into one another were their enhanced reflexes their miraculous stones gave them. She stared up at him, blue eyes wide and unblinking, and Chat had just begun to count the small, brown freckles on the tip of her nose when her lips turned up into a coy smile.

  “You’re a little late, Chaton,” she teased, her fists moving to her hips. “You aren’t still exhausted from yesterday’s little run, are you?”

  “Please Bugaboo, I’m the epitome of fitness.”

  “As much as I would love to prove you wrong –” Ladybug hummed and pushed herself onto her tiptoes, a gloved fingertip gently pushing at Chat’s nose to back him up a few steps. “I don’t have the time to stick around and play with stray cats.”

  “My Lady,” Chat gasped, both palms pressed over the left side of his chest. “I am no stray cat.”

  “Oh, the kitten’s tamed?”

  He grinned, an index finger curled against his bottom lip as he purred, “I can show you if you don’t believe me.”

  Innocent. It was innocent, harmless banter, just like they had always shared between one another. Chat hadn’t thought he’d said anything suggestive of the sort, but considering the stunned, wide-eyed expression on Ladybug’s rather red face, it must have affected her somehow. Her lips, which had been spread wide as she stared up at him, quickly clamped shut and she pushed against Chat’s shoulder with her gloved hands. Chat was almost mad. He had flirted with Ladybug endlessly, usually picking up lines and mannerisms from movies and television, and he’d had no success. So, why now, when had hadn’t even intended on flirting with her, was she acting so bashful?

  “I’ll take your word for it,” Ladybug said, and as she squeezed past him and the doorframe, Chat realised that she was holding her breath.

  “Ladybug!” Chat blurted, twisting around to grab her arm, and then whatever he thought he was going to say to her had vanished from his mind. Her face was red, vividly red – why was it so red?

  “I really have to go, Chat,” she told him as she freed her arm from his grasp, and Chat didn’t know what to make of the fact that she couldn’t look him directly in the eyes for more than a few seconds. Confused – he was just confused. “Patrol tomorrow night, okay?”

  When she pulled away for the second time, Chat didn’t stop her, but the redness of her cheeks as she turned away released a thousand butterflies inside his stomach.

  

* * *

 

 

For a split moment, Adrien thought that Nino had stood him up.

  But then he remembered that Nino was Nino, and he wouldn’t do something like that to his friends without saying anything first.

  They’d originally planned to have lunch together at Nino’s favourite café – his favourite because it was cheap and sold not necessarily healthy foods that Adrien’s father would kill him for eating if he ever found out. When he turned up, however, the tip of his nose and cheeks slightly flushed from running around in the cooling afternoon breeze, Nino was nowhere in sight. Adrien checked his mobile for a text message saying that he’d moved somewhere else, but his last message still stated that he would wait to meet up at the café.

  Adrien pouted.

**“I’m here and you’re not”** he texted.

  The reply was almost instant, **“Marinette’s waiting for you.”**

  “Marinette?” He said out loud, and instantaneously, he heard a soft squeak and a muffled string of sounds that sounded something along the lines of a structured sentence but lacked properly pronounced words.

  Marinette had been sitting at a table by herself, but she’d promptly shot out of her chair the moment they’d made eye contact. Her cheeks were flushed, her hair slightly messy in her twin ponytails, and she picked at the sleeves of the green sweater she wore. “Sorry, Adrien,” she began. “Nino invited me and Alya out, and they told me to wait for you here. They’ve already gone to the arcade and told us to meet them there after you got something to eat.”

  Oh, that was right. Adrien had found out through Chat Noir that there was something going on between Alya and Nino, not necessarily a relationship but something close to it, so it really only made sense for Nino to invite her out. He’d probably felt bad for it afterwards, and invited Marinette along so Adrien wouldn’t have to suffer being the third wheel.

  “So,” Marinette continued, voice soft but at least she was actually talking to him for longer than a minute. They’d spent a little time together after school when they’d been practising for the Ultimate Mecha Strike III gaming competition, but in school, Marinette didn’t really like talking to him that much. Or at least, that was the impression he got since she always darted out of sight whenever he tried to talk to her. “I’m not eating anything, but I don’t mind waiting.”

  Adrien risked a glance at a dining couple, mouth watering at the sight and smell of the – probably not healthy – food that they were eating, and although he could feel a consistent _pain_ prodding at his ribs from inside his jacket, he shook his head. “That’s okay,” Adrien said, and he was sure that Plagg kicked him. “I’m not that hungry.”

  He was a little hungry, but that wasn’t anything too unusual. He was used to only eating foods that his father approved of, and besides, if he was going to eat any sorts of foods that he wasn’t supposed to, he was definitely going to wait for Ladybug to come through on her promise of bringing him sweets – if she ever did, that was.

  Marinette nodded, fingers curled around the strap of her purse.

  “So, how are you?” Adrien asked, and he couldn’t help but wince at himself. He sounded awkward and unnatural, and he could never tell how Marinette would react around him. “You seemed a little out of it at school yesterday.”

  Marinette stared up at him for a short moment, and Adrien was already formulating his apology for being nosy in his head when she turned her attention to the pathway below their feet. “I just had something on my mind,” she finally told him. “I was thinking about it all day and couldn’t concentrate on anything else.”

  “Is something wrong?”

  “Well, no.” Marinette skipped over a crack in the cement, her fingers threaded together as she walked. “Nothing’s wrong. Something’s just come up, and I’d never expected it to come up. I’d thought about it before, but I was so sure –” She stopped herself, paused for a short moment, and continued, “Sorry, I’m rambling.”

  “You’re not,” Adrien said, and when Plagg fumbled around inside his jacket again, he folded his arms over his chest. “I asked, remember?”

  Marinette seemed to reflect before she spoke again. “I just thought that I had everything figured out, but then something came along and changed it all up. I’m not really sure what to feel about it.”

  “Something came along,” he repeated, and when he looked across at her, Marinette’s attention was focused on the busy street in front of her. The arcade wasn’t too far now, and Adrien could see the building just up ahead. “Is it a bad something?”

  “No, not really.”

  “Then does it really matter if it changed up what you’d already planned?”

  “I mean…” She stopped again, and Adrien was half tempted to ask Marinette if she would just tell him the whole story. “The original plan was good too.”

  “But the something that came along is also good?” Adrien asked.

  “Well, yeah.”

  This time, Adrien paused. He didn’t know too much about original plans and something’s coming along to meddle, but whatever Marinette was dealing with must’ve been really wracking her brain. The last time he had seen her, she’d been dazed and completely blind to everything around her, and Marinette wasn’t usually one to slack off during class. Sure, she was late sometimes – often, actually – but she always did double the amount of work to make up for her tardiness. Even Alya had seemed stumped by the way she was acting, and she was Marinette’s best friend.

  “You said that you had everything figured out,” Adrien recalled. “That you had a plan, right? How’s that coming along?”

  Marinette hesitated, lips parted to form words but faltering, and she turned her face away from him when she said, “To be honest, it’s not coming along at all. I haven’t really taken the first step to make it happen.”

  “So you say you have everything figured out, but you haven’t tried to make it work, and on top of that, you’re confused because something’s come along and interfered.”

  She murmured something under her breath.

  “You know what I think?” Adrien continued. “I think you should abandon the plan.”

  Marinette’s head snapped upwards, blue eyes blown wide as she stared at him in apparent shock. “Abandon the original plan?” She blurted. “But I can’t!”

  “Why not?” He pressed, and he couldn’t help but feel guilty about what he’d said when Marinette frowned. “Don’t you think that if the original plan was supposed to work out, the something that came along wouldn’t have affected it, right?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Sometimes things just don’t go according to plan.”

  Marinette’s grip around her bag strap tightened, lips pressing together tightly as she swallowed, and once again, Adrien found himself formulating apologies in his head, but she murmured, “Yeah. Maybe you’re right.”

  And although Adrien had thought she was upset, Marinette was smiling.

 

* * *

 

When they found the others in the arcade, Marinette made a beeline straight for Alya.

  Adrien couldn’t really complain, because he’d done the exact same thing with Nino as well. Nino had been mumbling around a mouthful of hot chips, probably trying to give Alya some tips on the Whack-A-Mole game she was playing, although it looked to Adrien like Alya was half-temped to take the foam club and smack it across the back of Nino’s head.

  “Nino, I know how to hit a stupid mole!” Alya exclaimed.

  “Apparently not according to your score,” he countered, slipping another chip into his mouth as he grinned to himself.

  “She’s going to hit you,” Adrien told him.

  “She won’t.”

  “She probably will,” Marinette confirmed.

  In the end, Alya hadn’t hit Nino since she’d been satisfied with her sixty points, which in all honesty, Adrien thought wasn’t really all that a satisfying score but he kept quiet for his – and most likely Nino’s – sake. He shared a knowing look with his friend, a message that said something along the lines of _that’s only six moles, she knows that right_ , but Nino shrugged, and Adrien watched as once again he returned to admiring Alya. Adrien didn’t know why he hadn’t noticed it before, but Nino was so obviously doting over Alya that it was almost painful to bear.

  Almost, because despite how ridiculous Nino was behaving, Adrien really was happy for Nino.

  “Have you heard about the big bash Mayor Bourgeois is hosting?” Alya asked, leant casually up against the window of a candy claw machine. None of them had been too good at grabbing prizes, save for Marinette, and she briefly glanced away from the claw game that she was operating. She’d already nabbed two toy key chains, and she wouldn’t quit until she’d gotten another two.

  “I have,” Adrien said, and he had to keep himself from rolling his eyes. His father had been invited, of course, being the creator and owner of the Gabriel brand. Adrien had been invited too – he wasn’t too sure why since he was only a kid, but he suspected it had a lot to do with Chloe.

  “At the Grand Paris Hotel?” Marinette asked, and she whispered a triumphant ‘yes’ when another toy keychain successfully dropped down the prize chute. “What’s the party for?”

  “Oh you know. An excuse for rich people to get together and brag about anything they can think of,” Alya said, and Adrien noticed that she’d been looking at him as she’d spoken. She winked afterwards, signalling that it’d only been a joke, but Adrien had already looked away and was pretending to be captivated by Marinette’s claw machine skills. “Well, anyway. Since my mum works there, she managed to get me on the invite list.”

  Nino’s eyebrow rose an inch. “She did?”

  “Sort of. I’m allowed in for publicity and press, but only under the condition that I don’t continuously pester the guests.” Alya shrugged her shoulders, arms folding over her chest. “If Ladybug and Chat Noir come, I want to get another interview.”

  “Ladybug and Chat Noir are going?” Marinette asked, fingers hesitating over the buttons as she attempted to snatch the fourth key chain.

  “I didn’t hear that they were going,” Adrien added.

  Alya nodded. “I managed to get a sneak peak at the invite list, and their names are down. It makes sense. They are superheroes, and now that they’re out in the open about being a couple, everyone wants to see them together more.”

  The tips of Adrien’s ears burned hot, and he wondered if Ladybug knew anything about the party at the Grand Paris Hotel. If she did already know, he could pass off her behaviour earlier as being nervous about it. But if she did know, wouldn’t she have told him about it? What was it with Ladybug that left him feeling so confused lately?

  “Yes!” Marinette exclaimed loudly, and Adrien flinched, rudely awakened from his daydreams to find that Marinette was reaching down to claim the last of her prize. She held four key rings in her palms, packaged neatly in small plastic pockets. The key rings Marinette had won were small, plastic and monster-shaped – two were blue with light pink stomachs, one green with a black stomach, and the other red with a dark purple stomach. “Pick one. We can all have one.”

  “These are kiddie toys, Marinette,” Alya stated, but she picked a blue key ring despite what she’d said. Nino followed afterwards, and Adrien almost rolled his eyes. He’d picked the second blue one.

  The key rings were held in front of Adrien next. “Pick one,” Marinette said.

  He wanted the red one for obvious reasons, but Marinette had spent about ten minutes winning the key chains for the four of them, so the least he could do was let her choose before him.

  “Which one do you want?” Adrien asked her.

  "Hmm." Marinette’s lips pouted to one side, and she hummed quietly under her breath before she grinned and hugged one of the plastic packages to her chest with her palm. “This one. I want the black and green one.”

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (squad bonding is good) 
> 
> also I noticed that I tend to change POV a lot so if that's bugging anyone just let me know and I'll try and stick to just one. anyway, thanks for reading (n˘v˘•)¬


	6. Chapter 6

Marinette was about eighty per cent sure that she wouldn’t have minded it if her fake boyfriend Chat Noir became her real boyfriend.

  But then again she was only eighty per cent sure, so there was no way that she could admit that to him just yet. Besides, there was always the situation with their secret identities, and although Marinette did trust Chat to keep her secret, a smart superhero wouldn’t ever reveal her identify to anyone.

  Marinette was a smart superhero.

  Although, she wasn’t too sure what to think about her newfound behaviour around Chat Noir. Since she had met Chat, Marinette hadn’t found another person that she felt most comfortable around – save for her parents of course. She saw him all time, and not a single week past by where they wouldn’t meet up to patrol the city or sit atop a rooftop together. Chat Noir was safe and comfortable, and yet, he was setting Marinette’s heart dangerously aflutter.

  It frustrated her, and she took out the frustration on the dirty dishes soaking in the sink in front of her, her arms covered in suds. She had meant what she’d told him, that she would bring him something sweet to eat the next time that she saw him, but she hadn’t necessarily said that she would _buy_ them. She wasn’t some amazing baker, just mediocre, but her parents did own a bakery and her house was stocked with the best quality ingredients so it only made sense for her to make something herself.

  Marinette wondered if a girl had ever given confectionaries to Chat as a gift before – considering his rather large fan base, she wouldn’t be surprised if a love-struck fan had tried once or twice. The thought annoyed her a little, and as her lips puckered into a stubborn pout, she hoped that if Chat Noir had ever received sweets from another girl, that hers would taste better than them all.

  She scrubbed at the cookie batter that she hadn’t managed to lick clean from the mixing bowl, and she couldn’t help but wonder if she had always felt like that. Had she ever been bothered with the idea of Chat dating another person? She supposed that she hadn’t really thought about it, too preoccupied with the fantasy of being in love with Adrien Agreste, and Marinette couldn’t really say why it had happened _now_ but she had to admit that she was interested in Chat – as more than just a member of their duo. It annoyed her, because it was _Chat Noir_ and she’d been content chasing after Adrien, but whether she liked it or not, Chat had taken what she had thought she wanted and torn it to pieces. If Erotica had never attacked Ladybug, would she have never felt this way about him?

  Marinette paused, and as she stared down at the soapy water, she felt her stomach coil with unease. She didn’t want to think like that. Didn’t want to invent a version of the present where she didn’t like Chat Noir as more than a friend. She stacked the bowl neatly on the drying rack and pulled the plug from the sink.

  “Marinette?” Her father said, and he poked his head into the kitchen. “Are you finishing up soon? We’re going to bed now.”

  “The cookies shouldn’t be too much longer,” Marinette said, wiping her hands dry with a dishtowel.

  “Don’t stay up too late, it’s a school night.”

  “I won’t. Goodnight.”

  He murmured a goodnight, so did her mother, and Marinette stood in the kitchen as quietly as she could as she watched the cookies bake. She might’ve left baking them a little too late, and it would mean that she would be slightly delayed in meeting Chat for their Sunday night patrol, but at least they’d be fresh and warm right out of the oven.

  “Are you nervous?" Tikki asked from where she sat idly on the countertop.

  “Nervous?” Marinette repeated quietly. “Why would I be nervous?”

  “You’re going to give a gift to the boy that you like. I think that I would be nervous.”

  “It’s only Chat Noir. I don’t need to be nervous.” She might’ve said that, but Marinette felt butterflies in her stomach. She hummed quietly to herself, mouth puckered into a pout, and she whispered, “Do you think that he’ll like them?”

  “I think that Chat will love anything you make him.” Tikki giggled, and she soared upwards to land on Marinette’s shoulder as she quietly turned off the oven and carefully pulled out the baked goods. “Even if they tasted bad, he would still love them.”

  “That’s probably true,” Marinette agreed, and she smiled. “But for the sake of Chat’s tastebuds and my dignity, let’s hope that they taste good.”

  She left the cookies to cool for ten minutes, and by then she was already around ten minutes late to meeting up for patrol, so she packed them into a Tupperware container and retreated to her bedroom where Tikki changed her into Ladybug and then she escaped through the porthole above her bed.

  Usually when Ladybug and Chat Noir patrolled the city, their timetables conflicted and so they would meet up somewhere along the way. Most times though, they would meet up first in the park by the bronze sculpture of the two heroes. It might’ve seemed cliché, but it was convenient and easy to get to for the both of them, and besides, it _had_ been put there to honour them.

  Ladybug could already see Chat sitting cross-legged on the statue’s stand by the time she swung into the park, and she stopped in front of him for only a split second to flick his bell with her finger before she skipped forwards a few steps and took off again.

  She heard him call something out to her, but when she glanced over her shoulder, Chat was hurdling after her, green eyes vibrant and glowing in the dark night. Ladybug tightened her grip around the container she held between her stomach and arm, and she shouted back at him, “I have a surprise for you, but only if you can keep up, Chaton!”

  She’d known that he had heard her when his lips spread into a wicked grin, and Ladybug couldn’t get it out of her head how much she _loved_ Chat’s smile.

  She landed atop the rooftop of a restaurant, and she could hear the chatter and music coming from inside the building below her feet. She’d started into a slow jog, her aim to leap over onto the next building, but Chat had dropped onto the space ahead of her, rolling once before he came to a stop on all fours. Ladybug skidded to a halt, stumbling forward a few steps, but Chat stood and caught her before she managed to trip and fall.

  “Your knight in shining armour has arrived,” Chat Noir pronounced, offering her an exaggerated, sweeping bow. “Do I get my surprise now, My Lady?”

  “Well, what sort of lady would I be if I left my knight unrewarded?” Ladybug hummed, and she rocked on the balls of her feet as she held the container out for Chat to take. “I said that I’d bring you something the next time I saw you.”

  He was hesitant, brows furrowing beneath his black mask as he gingerly took the Tupperware from her. “You made these?”

  “Maybe,” Ladybug answered, and she laced her fingers behind her back as she watched him. “Depending on how good they taste. If they taste bad, then they’re store bought. If they’re good –”

  “If they’re good, you made them?” Chat finished, a sly grin sneaking its way onto his face, and Ladybug felt her heart skip a beat as his clawed fingers slowly peeled away the plastic lid. “Ladybug, I’ll eat and savour them regardless.”

  Ladybug smiled. She’d known that he would say that.

  “Well?” She pressed, hands shooting to her hips as she cocked a brow beneath her mask. “What are you waiting for? I don’t bake for just anybody, you know.”

  “Chocolate chip,” Chat commented as he pulled a cookie from the container, and Ladybug noticed how he was moving suspiciously slow. He was teasing her, she was sure, and she would have smacked him if she weren’t so excited for him to try one. She almost looked away when he bit into the cookie, but Ladybug chewed on the inside of her cheek as she watched his jaw work. “Hey,” he mumbled. “This is really good, Bugaboo.”

  “It is?” She asked

  Chat Noir nodded, and as he popped the remainder of the chocolate chip cookie into his mouth, he held the container out towards her and gently shook the contents. She fished one out and was surprised to find that she’d actually done a pretty good job – soft and chocolaty, and still slightly warm. She tried not to let it show, but Ladybug was humming with joy. “You like them?”

  He bit into another cookie as an answer.

  “This is the first gift that My Lady’s ever given me,” Chat told her. “I’m keeping the container, just so you know. I won’t give it back.”

  “It’s just Tupperware.”

  “But it’s _My_ Lady’s Tupperware.”

  “Fine. From now on I’ll bring you all the Tupperware I have.”

  “I’ll keep every single one.”

  She thought that Chat was probably telling the truth.

  Ladybug felt the chill of the night breeze through her suit, and her fingers curled around her upper arms as she settled down comfortably on the floor. Chat followed soon after her, quiet and content to eat away at the chocolaty goodness Ladybug had baked him. “Has there been any news for tonight?” She asked after a moment of silence, and she brought her knees to her chest.

  “Nope,” Chat told her, his voice only slightly muffled as he happily ate away. “Looks like another quiet night tonight. Hey, what happened with the break-in situation earlier today?”

  “Petty thieves,” Ladybug answered, chin resting atop her knees. “There were two of them, – one had a crowbar – but they didn’t try anything. As soon as I dropped in, they pretty much handed themselves over.” Chat handed her another cookie, and Ladybug accepted it with a quiet hum. “What about you? Anything interesting happen to you today?”

  “My Lady baked me chocolate chip cookies,” he teased, and when Ladybug looked across at him, she noticed that he had a smudge of chocolate against his upper lip. 

  She rolled her eyes. “You’ve got chocolate on your mouth.”

  “Hm?” Chat wiped his lips with his gloved fingers, but he leant into her shoulder to purr in her ear, “My Lady, would you like to clean it?” He puckered his lips at her, like he had done so many times before, and Ladybug felt her cheeks burn hot.

  “Nope!” Ladybug exclaimed as she pushed his face away from hers. “Little kittens need to learn how to clean themselves.”

  “Purrty please? Just a little help would be largely appreciated,” Chat hummed, and Ladybug turned to face him but she’d miscalculated how close he had actually been, and her chest pressed snuggly against his. She felt his heartbeat against her skin, his warmth seep through the leather and spandex materials of their suits, and when their noses bumped against one another, Ladybug held her breath.

  Ladybug’s suit suddenly felt too tight, and with a muted whine, she pulled away to pluck at the spandex that covered her neck and then her thighs. Too tight, too warm – her heart was pounding a mile a minute.

  “Ladybug?” Chat asked, and his voice sounded lower than usual. “Are you okay?”

  She nodded, but he must have been unconvinced because she felt his fingers dance against the top of her hand, feathery soft. It left sparks in her skin, the traces he’d made rooted in her bones, and Ladybug’s throat grew tight as her gloved fingertips dug into the cement rooftop.

_I’m sorry Adrien._

  “Chat Noir, there’s something that I need to tell you.”

  When she looked at him, his lips were parted and his pupils blown wide, and his cheeks had grown red beneath his mask when her fingers curled around his thumb. Ladybug didn’t know where to start first – tell the truth about remembering everything that’d happened when she’d been under Erotica’s spell, or skip to the part about her feelings for him? Although, she could hardly focus on saying anything when Chat looked at her like that, like he was entranced by her. She could hardly believe that it had taken her this long to notice him.

  A distant scream echoed somewhere in the city, and the two heroes froze. A minute passed and silence ensued, and Ladybug’s eyes had moved to search the horizon when another shriek pierced the night.

  “It’s coming from that direction,” Chat stated, clambering to his feet to point to the East of the city.

  “And just when I thought we were going to have another quiet night,” Ladybug sighed, and she grabbed her yoyo from her hip. “Okay, Chaton. Let’s get to work.”

 

* * *

 

 

Luckily for them, it hadn’t been too hard to track down the akumatised villain.

  After all, they’d only had to follow the trail of screams.

  The akumatised villain was a young boy that went by the name ‘The Boxer,’ and he patrolled the streets of Paris cackling to himself as he trapped victims inside cardboard boxes. Ladybug was thankful that it was late out; it meant that not as many civilians would cross paths with the Boxer.

  “We should stick together,” Chat Noir suggested. “I don’t know about you, but I don’t think we really want a repeat of last time.”

  Ladybug peeked around the corner of the building they hid behind, her bottom lip caught between her teeth as she observed the Boxer in action. “It looks like the boxes come from that shooter he’s holding,” she said.

  “You think the akuma’s inside?”

  “That’s my guess.” Ladybug pulled away from the corner, and as she looked up at Chat, she retrieved her yoyo from her hip. “It’s pretty bulky. Do you think you’d be able to use cataclysm on it?”

  Chat shot her a smug grin. “My Lady, who do you think I am?”

  “Yeah, yeah.” Ladybug rolled her eyes. “You’ve got one shot, so make it count.”

  Chat Noir held his index and middle fingers to the tip of his mask in a lazy salute, and as he ducked around the corner, Ladybug could hear him shout out, “Cataclysm!” She followed quickly, stopping short as she watched him easily dodge the Boxer's attack. The shot exploded against a nearby lamppost, and a large cardboard box sprung up out of nowhere. Chat dove forward, black light spilling from his open palm, but the Boxer had fired again, and before Chat’s cataclysm could reach the shooter, it made contact with the cardboard box that sprung out into the air, and swiftly crumbled to the road in a pile of dust.

  Right. They needed a new plan.

  Ladybug flung her yoyo, the string winding around Chat Noir’s stomach, and she yanked him back towards her. He yelped when his feet left the ground, and he landed on his rear in front of her.

  “You missed,” Ladybug stated.

  He flashed her a sheepish grin. “Whoops?”

  She helped him back to his feet and as Chat dusted himself off, Ladybug called upon her own special power. At least, she was moments away from doing so, until she heard Chat shout something and felt his fingers around her wrists, and then everything was darker and tighter. Ladybug’s eyes had been squeezed close, and when she opened them, she met Chat’s, vibrant and glowing green.

  “Hey, Ladybug,” Chat started, and she felt his breath on her cheek. “Do you mind moving your fist a little?”

  It was dark and squishy, and when Ladybug pried her arm out from between her stomach and something soft and warm, she heard Chat let out a pent up breath. Whatever was behind her was solid and hard, same to her left and her right, and she prodded in front of her with her only free hand. Warm, smooth, somewhat familiar and softer as she moved downwards – Chat let out a surprised cry and Ladybug immediately retracted her hand.

  “Was that you I just touched?” She asked.

  “Something of mine,” he retorted.

  “Are we –”

  “We’re in a cardboard box.”

  Ladybug regretted asking him to use cataclysm earlier – it would have been ideal in this situation if he could get his hand free – and she couldn’t reach her yoyo which was tightly pinned between hers and Chat Noir’s stomachs (although, she wasn’t sure if her yoyo would do any help in this situation anyway). They were cornered from every angle, and Ladybug didn’t know what, but something pressed up between her legs, and when Chat squirmed, realisation dawned and she blushed tomato red.

  “S–stop moving!” she cried.

  “I would, but –” Chat hissed through his teeth, and Ladybug pressed her palm against the cardboard box beside his head, and she tried to push as much of her weight off of Chat’s stomach as she could manage. “You’re not claustrophobic, are you?”

  “No,” Ladybug told him, but the air was gradually growing warmer and thicker, and she was dying for a breath of fresh air. “Are you?”

  “No,” he answered. “Got any ideas?”

  “No. Do you?”

  “No.”

  Ladybug decided that she’d make a list of things she severely disliked. Erotica was already on it, and cardboard boxes had just made the cut.

 

 

 


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> just for future (future, future) reference, our miraculous teens are like 16/17 so dw they're perfectly legal to be doin... stuff. but if this age still bothers people, feel free to age them to whatever makes you comfortable!  
> thanks for reading ~~

“If I die in here without finishing those cookies you baked, I’m going to be mad.”

  “Chat, please,” Ladybug groaned. “This is not the time.”

  She was one hundred per cent sure that it was Chat Noir’s knee wedged in-between her legs, brushing against her most intimate area whenever he so much as took a deep breath in. Her hand left the wall of the box to investigate, and she patted her way down the side of Chat’s stomach. If he had any problems with her blind probing, he chose not to voice them. Ladybug’s palm pressed over something jutting and slightly bony – a hipbone, perhaps? – and then it dipped down, and she could feel the warmth and softness of Chat’s skin beneath his leather suit.

  “Hey!” Chat exclaimed, and once again, Ladybug pulled her hand away and opted to rest it on his shoulder instead. “Watch where you’re groping.”

  “Oh, I’m _so_ sorry!” Ladybug snapped. “I can’t exactly see anything in here.”

  “Sucks to be you,” Chat teased.

  Ladybug would’ve hit him, but she’d probably hit herself in the process too.

  “Are you telling me that you can see?” Ladybug asked, and when Chat shifted, whatever he had between her legs rubbed against her. “C–Chat, what did I tell you? Stop moving!”

  “Easier said than done,” Chat remarked, and Ladybug thought that she could feel his forearm pressed up in the space between her chest and arm. “I can’t get comfortable.”

  “You don’t need to get comfortable. We’re not staying.” Her hand moved from his shoulder to the wall again. “What’s between my legs?”

  There was a brief moment of silence.

  “My thigh,” he told her, and he might’ve tried to be casual about it, but judging by his hesitation, Ladybug thought that it must have been bothering him. “Just so you know, yours is between mine too.”

  “It is?” Ladybug asked, and she’d moved her knee without thinking.

  “Heh – Hey!” Chat exclaimed, and his hand skated from beside her chest to press against her thigh. Her lips parted and she bit down on her bottom lip, but quickly released it when she remembered that unlike her, Chat could actually see everything that was happening in the dark, cramped box.

  She wasn’t too sure what had come over her – whether it was the heat, or the closeness, or the fact that she loved the smell of Chat’s skin, she really couldn’t tell what had made her all giddy inside – but Ladybug felt her body pulsating and burning up with heat, and she desperately tried to keep Chat’s thigh from pressing too close to the rapidly warming space between her legs. She thought that he had to have felt what was going on with her body, because she sure as hell could, and she felt stupid and embarrassed, and if she didn’t get a hold of herself soon, then he’d –

  “Is your face is red?” Chat asked, and Ladybug tried to hide her face in his chest, her warm forehead pressing against his shoulder. “I think it’s red. It looks like you’re blushing.”

  He shifted beneath her again, setting sparks loose in Ladybug’s gut. “I told you not to move.”

  When he spoke again, his voice was noticeably thicker. “Hey, you’re like, throb –”

  “Don’t say it!”

  She was going to hit him.

  “Wait, are you –”

  Ladybug pressed her gloved fingers over Chat’s mouth. He stiffened but went quiet, and she used the time to catch her breath. Everything was too hot, too close – _he_ was too hot, too close, and Ladybug wasn’t exactly sure what to do. She lifted her head from Chat’s chest, and she met his eyes, glowing green in the darkness. “I lied a little bit,” Ladybug admitted quietly. “Sorry. I do remember what happened when I was under Erotica’s spell.”

  She felt his breath against her fingers, and she felt his lips stir before he finally admitted, “Yeah. I knew you were lying.”

  “I don’t want you to be mad,” she told him, and her fingers trailed down Chat’s lips to rest at his jawline. Ladybug pushed herself onto her tiptoes, and Chat Noir’s thigh followed her, pressing her up further an extra inch. She was sure that it was his lips she could feel against hers when she said, “I’m sorry about how it happened, Chat, but I’m not sorry that it did happen.”

  Chat’s breath hitched, and she felt it fan against her mouth. “Ladybug?”

  For the second time that night, a scream interrupted them.

  They’d been trapped inside a cardboard box, but for a short moment, Ladybug had forgotten that the akumatised Boxer was still out terrorising people in the streets of Paris. She felt warm and safe now, cosy in her little bubble with Chat Noir, but that’d only last until the Boxer had his fun and come back for their Miraculouses.

  “Hey, Ladybug,” Chat said, and when he pressed himself into her, Ladybug squeaked. “Can you reach my baton?”

_Baton? Oh! Baton!_

  “I’ll try,” she murmured, and she reached forward, hand digging between the wall of the cardboard box and Chat Noir’s back, and her face grew hot when her palm pressed into his ass. “Sorry.”

  “Handsy, are we My Lady?”

  Ladybug was going to kill him.

  It was an effort to wiggle the baton out from the tight space between Chat Noir and the wall, but Ladybug finally tugged it free and she’d tried to pass it between their chests and into his hand, but Chat was impatient and as his fingers curled around the baton, his knuckles dug into her breasts.

  “ _Ouch_ ,” she muttered.

  “Sorry,” he apologised, but there was mirth in his voice. “It’s a bit _boxy_ in here.”

  With a press of his thumb, the baton extended and pierced circular holes into the sides of the cardboard. Chat wiggled the baton around, gradually opening up the hole that he’d made, and light from the nearby street-lamps slowly leaked into the box, revealing a flushed, damp-faced Chat Noir. Ladybug was sure that she looked exactly the same, and she could feel small hairs sticking to the sweat on her skin.

  “Here, help me,” Chat instructed, and his fingers left the baton to pry at the flaking holes. Ladybug pulled at the cardboard, but Chat’s clawed fingertips were much more useful, and he was ripping apart the box with ease. The outside air was fresh and crisp compared to the warm stuffiness inside the box, and Chat poked his hand through the growing hole, pulling it apart from the outside.

  “You know, Bugaboo,” Chat started, never ceasing in his destruction of their cardboard prison. “I’m pretty sure you were going to kiss me back then.”

  “You’re delusional.”

  “And you’re a liar. Since you do remember what happened with Erotica, might I bring up that you put my belt in your mouth?”

  Ladybug’s cheeks burned. “Chat Noir, this is _not_ the time!”

  By the time they’d ripped open and escaped from the Boxer’s cardboard prison, several boxes littered the street. Screams came from inside, and Ladybug felt sick to her stomach. She’d been fooling around with Chat, and there were people out there frightened to death. The Boxer was still wandering the street, but he was too busy cackling to himself that he hadn’t noticed the duos’ return.

  “We better be quick,” Chat told her. “I’ve used cataclysm, remember. I’ll transform back into my civilian self soon if we don’t hurry.”

  Ladybug nodded, and she called upon her Lucky Charm. She was presented with a can of red silly string, and she stared at it in disbelief. “I really shouldn’t be surprised.”

  “That looks useful,” Chat teased.

  “Right,” she said. “What we need is a distraction. If we can distract the Boxer for long enough, then I can figure out what to use this silly string for and one of us should be able to grab the akumatised object.”

  “Well, it just so happens that I am the _purr_ fect distraction,” Chat Noir proclaimed, and as they quietly jogged towards the Boxer, he nudged Ladybug with his elbow. “Wouldn’t you agree, Ladybug?”

  She would have argued with him, but decided to keep quiet. Ignoring him probably would’ve spited him more than her protests, anyway. They split up, Chat Noir to the right and Ladybug to the left, and while she lingered back and out of the way, Chat ran up and around the Boxer to distract him, as obnoxious and loud as he could’ve been. The purpose of the silly string was fairly obvious, Ladybug just needed to get close enough to use it, and as she quietly snuck up behind the Boxer, she was beginning to think that she’d be able to pluck the shooter right out of his hands.

   She hadn’t been able to see him properly before, but the akumatised villain was short, and Ladybug guessed that he could’ve only been around twelve. He wore a suit constructed entirely out of cardboard boxes, and he even had one pulled over his head. On closer inspection, the weapon he held looked light weighted and to be made out of plastic, and Ladybug was curious about how he was firing cardboard boxes but she’d have to push that to the back of her mind for now. She might’ve been only a metre away when Chat’s eyes snapped to meet hers, and she shied back a step, but the Boxer had already twisted around to face her.

  He pulled the trigger instantly, but Chat Noir rammed into him, throwing off his aim and sending a cardboard box soaring through the empty air. Ladybug acted quickly in the short opening Chat had opened for her, and she thumbed the red cap off the can and quickly made work with the silly string. She’d been aiming for the butterfly-shaped cut-out in the cardboard helmet, and while the Boxer peeled at the sticky string with one hand, Chat Noir plucked the shooter out of his grip and tossed it across to Ladybug.

  Like she had many times before, Ladybug snapped the akumatised object in two and dropped it to the floor, yoyo already out and at the ready by the time the akuma tried to flutter away. She made quick work of purifying the tainted butterfly, and tossed the can of silly string into the air to trigger her cleansing powers. The Boxer’s shooter transformed into a plastic water gun, the Boxer back into a boy, and all across Paris, numerous civilians were set free from cardboard prisons.

  Chat strode over to her, and as they shared a fist bump they chorused, “Pound it.”

 

* * *

 

 

Really, Marinette should have been in bed sleeping hours ago.

  She would be exhausted the next morning for school, but dealing with the police and reporters was something that she’d had to put up with since becoming Ladybug. Chat Noir was squatting down beside Leo, the young boy who had been akumatised, to make sure that the police weren’t going too hard on him. His family was moving out of the city, and naturally they’d been packing up all their things, so when Leo had pulled his water gun out from one of the cardboard boxes, he’d been scolded by his father. Thus, the Boxer had been born.

  “Ladybug!” A reporter called out, and Ladybug wondered why these people weren’t at home asleep. It was a small crowd, perhaps only seven reporters and a few policemen, but they all wanted a word with the spotted hero. “Is there anything else you can tell us about the recent akuma attack?”

  “There’s nothing much more I can say without giving away personal information,” Ladybug answered. “And I would rather not do that.” She glanced over her shoulder, and Chat was watching her, arms folded over his chest. He tapped the ring on his finger, indicating that he was running out of time, and Ladybug promptly excused herself.

  “How much time do you have left?” Ladybug asked as she approached him, and she stretched her arms over her head as she yawned.

  “A few minutes,” he told her, and he hesitated for a short moment before he continued, “Should we meet up for patrol on Wednesday?”

  “I have a mathematics test coming up this week that I really need to study for so I can’t promise you anything,” she admitted, fingers laced behind her back. “Listen, have you heard about that dinner the Mayor is hosting? I’ve heard that we’re invited, so if anyone asks, maybe we should go?”

  Chat Noir’s miraculous beeped. “Go together?”

  Ladybug shrugged. “Everyone thinks that we’re a couple, so it would probably make sense to go together, right?”

  “Right.” Chat nodded. “We’ll go together then.”

  “Yeah. Together then.”

  A beat of silence, another beep from Chat’s miraculous. “Ladybug,” he finally said, but he sounded hesitant and unsure. “We should talk about what happened tonight.”

  “We should,” Ladybug agreed. “But that’s something we should talk about another night, when we’ve both got the time.” She smiled sweetly at him before she ran off, and she glanced over her shoulder to call out, “You left your treat behind, remember? Don’t forget it. See you around, Chat Noir!”

  The next morning, the headline in every news article read that the superhero duo and couple Ladybug and Chat Noir were invited to Mayor Bourgeois' celebratory dinner.

 

 


	8. Chapter 8

Marinette hadn’t been able to see Chat Noir for the whole week.

  That wasn’t to say that she hadn’t wanted to go meet up with him, because she definitely had, and she was surprised to find that she missed his company more than she usually did. His personality was rather animated and energetic, and although she really did love spending time with him, she usually appreciated the time when they were apart to unwind and calm down after his rumbustious flirting and boisterous showing off. That’s what had turned her off him at first – apart from Adrien Agreste, of course. Chat Noir was a notorious show off, and Marinette hadn’t been too sure if that was something that she’d been interested in.

  She found that over the week, she’d been thinking about Chat quite frequently. She thought about both the Erotica and Lingerer predicaments, how she’d made out with him one time and been trapped inside a box with him another. Marinette was beginning to think that just maybe all these akumatised villains had some sort of hidden agenda to get her and Chat Noir in the most compromising situations they could possibly manage – and it had almost worked. They’d been cramped up inside a cardboard prison, bodies pressing uncomfortably close into one another, and she had almost, _almost_ made a move and kissed him. It hadn’t been intentional, because Marinette hadn’t really planned to kiss him inside the box – she’d just gotten a little too close, and their lips had just brushed against one another when she’d tried to talk to him. When she had gotten home that night and dropped her transformation, Marinette had screamed into her pillow, and Tikki had hovered above her, hastily asking her ‘what happened’ and ‘what’s wrong?’ And so, Marinette had told Tikki everything that had happened, right down to every little detail.

  “Chat Noir is an attractive boy,” Tikki had admitted. “I can understand why you reacted the way you did.”

  “You like him,” Marinette had countered. “Admit it.”

  Tikki hadn’t admitted it, but she hadn’t denied it either.

  Marinette’s week had consisted of studying mostly, since mathematics wasn’t exactly her forte and there were a few sections from her textbook that took her a while to understand to the extent that she was comfortable solving the equations without a guide. Studying, on top of her homework, was draining, and by the time Wednesday night had come around, Marinette had been too busy catching up on much needed sleep to go out on patrol with Chat Noir. There hadn’t been any problems that she’d known of and if there had have been, she was certain that Chat would have easily dealt with them himself. There hadn’t been any signs of akuma at all, and before she realised it Friday had rolled along, she’d sat her mathematics test with the rest of her class, and then it was early Saturday night – the night of Mayor Bourgeois celebratory dinner.

  “Can I change out of the suit?” Marinette asked, lips pursed to one side as she stared at her reflection in the mirror.

  “Sorry, Marinette,” Tikki replied from her seat on Marinette’s shoulder. “The suit doesn’t come off at all, so there’s no way that you could try and change it.”

  She sighed and groaned, tugged at her bangs and sighed again. “It doesn’t matter.”

  “If it means anything to you, I think you look really good in the suit!”

  Marinette smiled, and she met Tikki’s eyes in the mirror. “Thanks, Tikki. I guess I just wanted to look a little – I don’t know, fancy? It is the Mayor’s event, after all. I’m sure that everyone there will be dressed up all nice.”

  “They probably will be,” Tikki agreed, her small hands joined together in her lap as she nodded. “But none of them are superheros. No one is going to care what you’re wearing because you’re Ladybug!”

  Marinette tilted her head to one side, her palm pressed into her cheek. “Do you think that Chat Noir will try and dress up? If he makes an effort, then I should too.”

  “Oh, so this is about Chat Noir then?”

  “W-well, no.” The apples of Marinette’s cheeks blossomed red, and she fiddled with the lipsticks she’d placed on the vanity. She’d been playing around with makeup, debating on whether or not to spruce up her look for the Mayor’s dinner, but she wasn’t seeing that much of a point in it anymore.

  “Now that I think about it,” Tikki began, and Marinette’s eyes narrowed. “You haven’t really been that interested in makeup before now, have you?”

  “It’s Mayor Bourgeois’ celebratory dinner, Tikki. There are going to be a lot of rich people with expensive outfits there, and I don’t want to feel out of place.”

  Tikki zipped from Marinette’s shoulder and perched on the faucet, and she smiled sweetly as she said, “Like I said, you’re Ladybug. You’re a superhero who has saved Paris many, many times. No one is going to be bothered if you’re not wearing a fancy dress, Marinette. Besides, Chat Noir will be in his suit too, so even if you do feel out of place, at least you can feel out of place with Chat Noir.”

  Marinette raised her eyebrows, but she sighed and her shoulders slumped in resignation, and when she backed up a few steps away from the vanity to glance over at her computer screen, she almost screamed out loud.

  “Oh no, is that the time?” Marinette exclaimed, and she’d already crossed the room and had begun to scramble hastily up to her loft. “I’m running late. Tikki, spots on!”

 

* * *

  

By the time Ladybug had swung through Paris to their usual gathering point by the bronze statue, she was already twenty minutes late to the Mayor’s dinner and Chat Noir was nowhere in sight.

  She hadn’t exactly told Chat to wait for her, nor had she told him that they were going to meet up, but she had told him that she’d wanted to go the Grand Paris Hotel together _with_ him. Although, Ladybug couldn’t exactly be upset at him for leaving without her. She was running late, after all, and Chat Noir was usually very punctual with his time management. She took off again, yoyo coiling around the many chimneys that dotted the Parisian rooftops, and Marinette had been pondering what Alya had decided to wear to the dinner event – she was only there for press, so would she even bother to dress up? – when she spotted a familiar black blur bound across the rooftop ahead of her.

  “Chat!” Ladybug called out, and when he didn’t stop, she called out louder, “Hey! Chat Noir!”

  Chat seemed confused as he stopped to look at her over his shoulder, eyebrows pinched together beneath the black mask, but he soon broke into that bright smile that Ladybug adored, and she hurried to catch up to him. “Well, what a coincidence that I would run into you here, My Ladybug,” he purred, and Ladybug folded her arms over her chest as he swooped down into a bow. “You wouldn’t happen to be skipping off to somewhere special tonight?”

  “Me? No, of course not,” Ladybug hummed, but despite their banter, they’d both broke off into a jog. “Why? You wouldn’t be asking me out, would you, Chaton?”

  “I was _purr_ -raying that you’d be my date to this fancy dinner I have to attend,” he countered, and his grin grew wickedly wide as he shot her a sidelong glance.

  “A fancy dinner you say?” Ladybug’s eyes darted upwards, as if she were contemplating her decision, and she briefly noted that they were rapidly approaching the glowing lights of the Grand Paris Hotel.

  “It’s hard being a superhero like me,” Chat sighed dramatically, and he drew his baton from his belt as they came to a stop by the edge of a tall building. “Rich celebrities are so _purr_ -sistent on inviting me out all the time. I’m sure you couldn’t _paw_ -sibility understand.” With a quick swipe of his gloved thumb, his baton extended and hit the pavement way below. “My Lady, might I offer you a ride?”

  “I hope you’ve had your fill of terrible puns for the night,” Ladybug commented, and Ladybug’s arms circled around Chat Noir’s neck. His arm looped around her waist, tugging her close, and Ladybug held her breath when his fingers spread flat against her stomach. She bent her leg around Chat’s knee as his boots left the rooftop, and her arms pressed into his shoulders. “If I have to endure any more of them, I might have to hit you, Chaton,” she added breathlessly.

  Chat Noir snickered under his breath, and as they zipped down Chat’s baton, Ladybug’s chin snuggled in close to his neck, breathing in the pleasant smell of his shampoo. He turned his head to look at her, and she looked away, fingers curling into the leather of his suit when their feet finally touched the cement foot walk.

  Ladybug and Chat Noir had turned up late to Mayor Bourgeois’ celebratory dinner, but apparently that didn’t matter too much for there were still guests walking through the front doors of the Grand Paris Hotel. Ladybug’s hands moved to her hips, Chat’s over his chest, and as they neared the building, she realised that the doorman had been checking to make sure those who were trying to get inside had invitations on hand.

  “Chat Noir,” Ladybug said slowly, and when she stopped, he continued walking onwards for a few steps before pausing to look over his shoulder at her. “We don’t have any invitations.”

  His black mask hitched upwards. “We don’t need invitations, we’re superheros,” he told her, and when she frowned, he reasoned, “Our invitation was the headline of every news article last Monday, remember?” Ladybug pouted, but when he beckoned her over with a nod, she marched after him. Chat’s arm slung over her shoulder, and she’d opened her mouth to tell him off but he grinned as he said, “Who could say no to Paris’s hottest new couple?”

_Paris’s hottest new couple_.

  Ladybug felt her heart flutter in her chest, and she had to remind herself that they were actually, as a matter of fact, Paris’s hottest new _fake_ couple. The only reason they had said they were dating was to save Ladybug’s reputation – that was all.

  Chat Noir had been right, and the moment they’d shown up at the entrance of the Grand Paris Hotel, the doormen greeted them politely and kindly held the door open for them as they walked inside. Chat glanced across at Ladybug, his eyebrows pitching upwards beneath his mask, and for a moment, she thought that she had died and gone to heaven – not because of Chat, of course.

  Fashion and design were huge passions for Marinette, and the hotel foyer was filled to the brim with expensive, designer brand clothing and accessories, and she had to keep her jaw from dropping low. The two of them were definitely out of place in their black leather and red spandex, but Marinette was too mesmerized by all the impressive designs too care. She felt Chat usher her along, his palm pressing against her back to get her to walk, and she audibly gasped when they moved past a woman wearing a sparkling gown.

  “Are these people even real?” Ladybug whispered, and although she hadn’t been serious, Chat shot her a sidelong glance and folded his arms tightly over his chest.

  “They’re not anything special,” he said.

  Ladybug scowled at him. “You don’t need to be rude, Chat.”

  If Ladybug had to describe Chat Noir’s typical behaviour using three words, she would’ve chosen sunshine, excitement, and puns. However, as she looked across at him, eyebrows furrowing in confusion beneath her polka dotted mask, at that particular moment he was far from that, and she could honestly say that she hadn’t ever seen him act that way before. He was unsmiling, quiet, and when Ladybug carefully reached out to press her hand against his arm, he was tense and rigid. For a brief moment, Ladybug thought that maybe he had detected something suspicious, but then surely she would have too, and as she searched the room, she found nothing of interest. The Mayor addressed some of his male guests, a few women in classy dresses laughed and gossiped amongst one another, and in the corner of her eye, she spotted Gabriel Agreste – _the_ Gabriel Agreste – and she would’ve gone over to ask him about his latest work if it weren’t for Chat Noir’s sudden sour attitude.

  “Chat Noir?” Ladybug said softly, and she tugged at his leather cuff until he unfolded his arms. “Let’s go. We don’t have to stay if you’re uncomfortable.”

  “I’m not uncomfortable,” Chat Noir told her abruptly, and he paused to take a breath, scratching the back of his neck with his gloved claws as he continued, “I’m okay, LB.”

  Ladybug frowned. “You don’t exactly look happy to be here. We can leave, I don’t mind. We’ll just tell the Mayor that something came up.”

  “Really, Ladybug,” Chat assured, and when he smiled at her, Ladybug decided that the only thing in the entire building that mattered was Chat Noir and his smile. “I want to stay. I just – there’s someone here, and I forgot that they’d be here.”

  “Who?” She questioned, and her eyes swept the room once more, as if the perpetrator would miraculously light up with glowing neon signs. “Point the person out. I’ll deal with them.”

  Chat Noir laughed, and as Ladybug turned to stare up at him, she felt her heart skip a beat. She was aware of a few other young women – possibly only a few years older than Marinette herself – pausing their conversation to gaze across at the leather-clad hero. “Aw, Bugaboo,” he sighed fondly, but an instant afterward his eyebrows waggled beneath his mask and he purred, “My knight in polka dotted nylon.”

  Ladybug puckered her lips, eyes narrowing as she retorted, “It’s spandex, actually.”

  “Ooh, flexible.”

  “Chat Noir,” she groaned, but she threaded her fingers through his, and she wondered if her face looked as flushed as Chat’s did. “I’ve got your back, okay? We’re a team.”

  “Ladybug! Chat Noir!” Mayor Bourgeois exclaimed merrily, and Ladybug was surprised not to see Chloe trailing after him. She supposed if Gabriel Agreste was here, then it was likely Adrien was too, and he’d probably be spending time with Chloe. That was, of course, if Chloe had even been invited to her father’s celebratory dinner in the first place – Marinette thought it was highly likely that she was. It seemed like it would’ve been in Chloe’s nature to throw a tantrum if she weren’t allowed to attend. “Thank you for coming,” the Mayor said. “I’m sure you both already have so many commitments to attend to.”

  “Thank you for inviting us, Mayor Bourgeois,” Ladybug responded politely. “We’re honoured to be here.”

  “It must be nice to have a night out and take a break from protecting Paris.” The Mayor paused, but his mouth had halted abruptly, as if rethinking what he was going to say, and Ladybug shared a quick glance with Chat Noir – was that their cue to speak? – but he smiled, and quickly added, “I assume this must be nice for you both as a new couple. Date night, perhaps?”

  Ladybug almost choked, and Chat Noir actually did.

  “W-well, I mean,” Ladybug stammered, and she had forgotten that she’d been holding Chat’s hand until he squeezed on hers. She risked a glimpse over at him, and although his eyes were on the Mayor, there was already a red blush blossoming out from beneath his black mask. “We did come as each other’s dates, but we came together because we were invited. It’s not really a date night –”

  “Ah. There’s no need to get caught up about it,” Mayor Bourgeois remarked, and Ladybug released a pent up breath she’d been holding. “You’re honoured guests, so please enjoy yourselves. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I better greet some of the other house guests.”

  The two of them stood in silence for a long minute after Mayor Bourgeois left them, Chat Noir’s palm pressed against his mouth and Ladybug’s bottom lip between her teeth, and after another brief moment, they exchanged bewildered looks.

  Chat slowly removed his hand from his mouth. “Did the Mayor just ask us about our love lives?” He asked.

  “We really should have expected that to happen,” she replied, and she lowered her voice and leant in close to add, “Everyone does think that we’re a couple.”

  “All thanks to you,” Chat commented, and his lips spread into a wicked grin. “Not that I mind.” Ladybug rolled her eyes. “Speaking of that, I do believe that we have a few things to talk about, My Lady.”

  “Oh really? I’m sure that I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Ladybug lied, and she pulled her hand out of Chat’s to lace her fingers behind her back. She pretended to be intently interested in the collection of flowers gathered in a decorated vase as she added, “You must be thinking of a dream you had.”

  “Lying again, Bugaboo?” Chat teased. “That’s becoming a nasty habit of yours.” He reached past her, and Ladybug’s lips had parted to argue at his light-hearted accusation, but his gloved fingers brushed against her cheek, and her breath hitched as his finger softly traced the shell of her ear. When he pulled away from her, his hands moved to his hips, and Chat Noir smiled proudly as he nodded his head once.

  Slowly, as if afraid of what she might find, Ladybug raised her hand to her ear and gingerly prodded at her ear. Her fingertips brushed against something soft and easily yielding, and when her gaze flickered from Chat’s green eyes to the flower vase, she had to keep herself from rolling her eyes.

  “Did you put a flower from that vase in my hair?” Ladybug asked.

  Chat Noir’s self-satisfied grin spread. “If you take it out I’ll cause a scene.”

  Ladybug folded her arms over her chest, but her lips had curved into a delighted smile, and she nudged Chat’s shoulder with her own as she said, “If I get in trouble for wearing this, I’m dragging you down with me.”

  “My Lady,” Chat purred, and when he leant a little too close to Ladybug’s face, she pressed the tip of her finger to his nose and gently pushed back. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

  An abrupt round of applause made Ladybug flinch, and she looked away from Chat Noir’s eyes – his beautiful, stunning, _gorgeous_ eyes she might add – and searched for the source of the commotion, and really, she should have already known. Chloe Bourgeois sauntered into the hotel lobby, nose stuck up towards the ceiling and conceited smirk plastered on her lips. She was unaccompanied – the Mayor must have told her that she wasn’t allowed to invite Sabrina, but Chloe looked the least bit phased. Like the many other women in the room, she wore an expensive dress with pretty heels, and Ladybug’s shoulders slumped with disappointment.

  "Wow," Ladybug murmured, eyes trailing Chloe as she strolled across the foyer to a group of younger looking guests. She hadn't spotted the superhero duo, and Ladybug was somewhat relieved. As Marinette, her and Chloe didn't get on too well, and Ladybug thought that even Chat Noir had picked up on the fact that she wasn't that well received. But Ladybug had to admit that Chloe looked good in her pretty blue dress with her blonde hair curled down her back, and she sighed as she said, "Chloe looks gorgeous tonight."

  Chat's mask hitched up an inch, eyebrows rousing beneath, and when Ladybug looked across at him, he'd already been looking at her. "I think that you're the most gorgeous girl in this room, My Lady."

  Ladybug tried to fight it, but her cheeks reddened and a pleased smile danced on her lips. "Is that so? Well it just so happens that I think you're the most gorgeous boy in this whole hotel."

  Chat's face flushed, his vibrant green eyes widening slightly before he blinked once, then twice, and a third time as he said, "You're the most gorgeous girl in all of France."

  "You're the most gorgeous boy in all of the world."

  He stared at her, unblinking and body as stiff as an ironing board, and when a soft giggle bubbled in Ladybug's throat, Chat Noir visibly gulped. His mouth opened, and then closed, and with an embarrassed frown, he crossed his arms over his chest and turned away from her. The long piece of his leather belt that functioned as a tail drooped low on the floor, the tip flicking every so often.

  Ladybug had always been fascinated with Chat Noir's more cat-like characteristics and how he could control them, and she was especially interested in the leather cat ears on the top of his head, which, at that particular moment, were pinned down against his scalp.

  Ladybug's head cocked to the side and she caught her bottom lip between her teeth as she poked his arm. "Chat? Chaton, I didn't mean to embarrass you. Don't ignore me, I don't have any other friends here." Chat Noir glanced over his shoulder at her, only for a brief moment, but Ladybug could see how much of a complete mess her partner was, and she swallowed down a laugh as she wedged her arm between Chat’s bicep and armpit, and she waved her hand lazily in front of him. “So you can dish out the compliments but you can’t take them?”

  “H-hey,” Chat Noir started hesitantly, lifting his arm as he turned to face her once more, and Ladybug’s arm slid out from under his armpit, her hands moving to sway innocently behind her back. “Do you really think that I’m –”

  “I do really think that you’re gorgeous,” Ladybug told him, and she meant it. Her cheeks had begun to sting from grinning so much, but she couldn’t help it. “Both inside and out, Chat Noir.”

  Chat had apparently not been expecting Ladybug to say that, because his eyes bugged exceptionally wide, and the entirety of the skin on his face flushed a deep red that spread down his neck in blotchy streaks, and Marinette had figured out not too long ago that did in fact have feelings for Chat Noir, but this boy – she had to tell him how she felt. If they were lucky, they’d have the whole night together with no pesky akumas or any other troublesome dealings, and surely – _surely_ – sometime throughout the night, she’d have the opportunity to tell him. Although, Ladybug wondered if Chat could actually handle a romantic confession, considering the way he reacted to being told he was gorgeous, and it wasn’t exactly like he didn’t already know it.

  Ladybug had decided. What her and Chat Noir had already was good, but it could most definitely get better if she confessed to him.

  “Attention, guests,” Chloe Bourgeois called out, and Ladybug noticed that she was wearing a shimmering tiara on the top of her head. _Typical_. The Mayor stood beside her, tall and proud, and smiling courteously as all eyes turned to them. “If you please, dinner will be served in the restaurant.” The Bourgeois’s shared a smile, and then they turned and escorted the guests to the elevators with the help of the hotel staff.

  “Well, Chaton,” Ladybug began. “Shall we take the stairs?”

  Chat Noir’s face was still flushed from their earlier conversation, but he managed a sweeping bow as he said, “After you, My Lady.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (*~▽~) thanks for reading


	9. Chapter 9

Ladybug was somewhat surprised to find out that Chat Noir was a neat eater.

  Not that she had expected him to be a slob or anything like that, and although he still mumbled and laughed around mouthfuls of food, his table etiquette was amazing. When he did speak or laugh with his mouth full, he’d hide it behind his hand, and he would only ever cut and eat one piece of food at a time. His posture was near perfect, with his back straight and his elbows off the table, and he always patted his napkin against his mouth whenever he took a short break from eating to take a sip of his drink. She knew that it hadn’t been Chat’s intention at all, but he made her feel the slightest insecure, and as she straightened up herself, she found herself wondering just what type of person Chat Noir was outside of the mask. Ladybug had been worried about him earlier, afraid that he felt out of place and awkward, but from what she was witnessing right in front of her, it seemed that he was right at home amongst a crowd of fancy, rich people.

  Ladybug chased a small pea around her dinner plate with the prongs of her fork, and she hollowed her cheeks as she hesitated, and when Chat turned to glance across at her, she blurted, “It seems like you’re familiar with this.”

  Chat Noir blinked at her, and his lips pulled into a confused smile. “Eating dinner?”

  “Eating dinner in fancy atmospheres.”

  He glanced down at the knife and fork in his hands, as if he hadn’t even been aware that he’d been holding them in the first place, and when he looked over at her again, he shrugged a shoulder. “I’m just eating how I usually eat.”

  “Chat Noir,” Ladybug began, and she tucked her leg behind the other beneath the table. “What do you do when you’re not a superhero?”

  Chat seemed confused, and Ladybug couldn’t really blame him. Whenever he had even _attempted_ to bring up their civilian lives in the past, Ladybug had almost always shot him down and told him that it was better for everyone if their identities as heroes and ordinary civilians stayed entirely separate.

  “What do I do when I’m not a superhero?” Chat repeated, and Ladybug was surprised to find that he was actually thinking over how he should answer. He rested his cutlery carefully on the sides of his plate and his gloved hands disappeared beneath the table as he said, “You mean, what do I do in general, or what do I do with other people?”

  Ladybug considered. “In general.”

  “I don’t know. I have school and my job to deal with generally.”

  “You have a job?” Ladybug probed, and she leant closer towards him, her elbow resting on the table. “Where do you work?”

  “Can’t tell you,” Chat declared, and he shot her a mischievous grin. “It’s a secret.”

  She pouted but decided not to push him any further. Chat Noir was cheeky and a tease, but he was usually very forward and honest, and if he’d wanted Ladybug to know where he worked, he would have outright told her.

  “Fine,” Ladybug said, and she rested her chin atop of her knuckles. Chat tapped the inside of her elbow with his clawed fingertip, and she sighed as she dragged her arm off the table. “What else? What do you like to do?”

  “Well, I like sports,” he told her.

  “What sort of sports?”

  “I like to skateboard, if you count that as a sport, and I rock climb a bit.” Chat Noir paused, puckered lips twitching in thought, and although the sight was distracting, Ladybug found that she couldn’t look away from Chat Noir’s glowing green eyes when they were so deep in thought. “I like videogames, and sometimes I read. I mean, I don’t – I haven’t really been able to go out and experience many things yet, so there’s not much about me.”

  “What about a girlfriend?” Ladybug hummed.

  “You?”

  She thought that her heart skipped a beat. “A non-pretend girlfriend.”

  She’d seen it so often lately that it came as no surprise when that familiar pink flush crept out from beneath Chat’s black mask, and she smiled as a nervous chuckle rippled from his throat. “No girlfriend. There is this girl that goes to my school that apparently likes me, though. She’s been a friend of the family since we were both little kids.”

  Ladybug felt unease coil inside her stomach. Chat Noir was an amazing person, and she suspected the same for his civilian self. She had already accepted the fact that Chat, as a hero _and_ as a civilian, definitely had admirers, and she had to admit it to herself – she was jealous. It was greedy and selfish, but she wanted him all to herself, and now that Ladybug knew that another girl – a girl that knew Chat Noir behind the mask – was out there and _liked_ him, she couldn’t help but feel bitter.

  “It’s said that family friends usually make good couples,” Ladybug commented, eyebrows raised beneath her polka-dotted mask as she turned away from Chat, but her voice had come out more sour than teasing, and she’d forgotten to smile as she’d spoken. She casted a weary side-glance over at him, and he was smiling.

  “We’re just friends,” he assured. “I don’t see her as anything more.”

  Ladybug wasn’t especially sure what to say. She wanted to say something along the lines of, that’s good, or, I’m glad, but that would open up an opportunity for another conversation that she just wasn’t prepared for. “Do I know her?” She asked.

  Chat nodded, but he’d gone back to eating again and he chewed as quickly as he could to answer, “Oh, yeah.”

  Ladybug’s lips puckered, and she stabbed the prongs of her fork into a slice of pumpkin as she questioned, “Do I like her?”

  “I wouldn’t say that you necessarily _like_ her.”

  He had food in his mouth again when he looked across at her, and Ladybug stuffed her own vegetables into hers as she stared at him, eyes narrowed and eyebrows lowered beneath her mask. She wasn’t entirely sure what to say. She liked Chat Noir, and she wanted to get to know him better, but how much could she learn about him before they crossed some sort of line? It was one of the other screaming reasons why Marinette had dismissed the idea of having any sort of romantic relationship with Chat – their superhero and civilian lives would always clash.

  “Hey, Chat Noir?” Ladybug began slowly, but when he looked her way, she felt an unexpected anxiousness flare in the pit of her stomach, and she chickened out with a dismissive shake of her head. “Never mind.”

  It felt almost – _unnatural_ , to Ladybug, that she had been so uncharacteristically anxious around Chat Noir these past few weeks. She wondered what he thought about her behaviour, or if he had even noticed it at all. She was sure though, almost entirely positive that once told him how she truthfully felt, the nerves would settle. Once she’d gotten over the hurdle of confessing, she thought – hoped – the rest would be smooth sailing.

  Ladybug had missed her chance to tell Chat Noir her feelings during dinner, though, and she realised that when she caught a flash of familiar auburn coloured hair settle down into the seat in front of her. Marinette’s best friend, Alya, like the superhero duo, had decided to abandon the dinner’s dress code too. She wore tight-fitting slacks and a white blouse, a beige trench coat over her shoulders and a knitted scarf wrapped neatly around her neck to keep her warm.

  “Hi Ladybug and Chat Noir,” Alya greeted warmly, as she always did whenever she spoke to the two heroes, and as per usual, the Ladyblogger’s mobile phone was held securely in her hands. “I hope that I’m not interrupting the two of you.”

  “Of course not!” Ladybug found herself blurting out. She still felt flustered and anxious, and she wondered if that came across in the way she spoke.

  Chat Noir settled back in his chair, apparently having finished his meal, and if his half-lidded eyes and straight face were any indication of how he felt, Ladybug thought that just perhaps he was growing tired of interviews. She could understand, though – lately all the questions they’d been getting had been about their relationship, and all the lying had begun to leave a bitter aftertaste on her tongue.

  “Oh, don’t worry!” Alya frantically assured, her smile apologetic as she set her mobile down in her lap. “I’m not here to ask you for an interview. _Miss_ Bourgeois made it strictly clear that if I so much as pointed my camera at you, she’d tell _daddy_ and have me thrown out.”

  “Well,” Ladybug began, and she almost continued with, ‘I doubt that’s her just being considerate,’ but that was something Marinette might’ve snickered to her best friend – not Ladybug. So instead, Ladybug responded with, “I’m sure that Chloe said that with the best intentions in mind.”

  When she glanced over at Chat Noir, his eyebrows were raised beneath his mask. It was no secret to him that Ladybug wasn’t particularly fond of Chloe Bourgeois, and Ladybug hoped that her words didn’t spur Chat to believe she was fake.

  “I hope that you’re both doing well,” Alya told them, and Ladybug smiled in gratitude. “I’m not really allowed to speak with you two for long. The main reason I’m here is to help make the Mayor look good by talking about him with some of the _higher-up’s_.”

  “Oh, please,” another voice chided, and whereas Ladybug held back a groan, Alya audibly sighed. Chloe Bourgeois, with her hand on her hip and her nose pointed towards the ceiling, came to a stop beside Alya’s chair. “You should be grateful that my father even let you take two steps through the door. Your mother had to practically _beg_ my father so you could be here tonight.”

  “If that’s true then I’m glad Ms Césaire did beg,” Ladybug interrupted sharply, and she felt Chat Noir stir beside her. “Alya makes excellent company, unlike someone else I know.”

  “Ladybug,” Chat snapped under his breath, and she bit down on her bottom lip to keep herself from uttering another word.

  She’d known that she shouldn’t have said what she had – she was Ladybug, after all, and no matter how deep someone got under her skin, she had to remain professional, but she couldn’t just sit there and not say a word while the most stuck up and standoffish girl she’d ever known so bluntly harassed her best friend. Ladybug would have apologised, it was what she ought to do, but Chat Noir bet her to it.

  “I’m sorry,” he said, and when Ladybug glanced between Chat and Chloe, she couldn’t help but feel the slightest bit jealous. “Ladybug’s had a lot on her plate lately, so you can understand that she’s not really in the best mood tonight.”

  Ladybug’s eyebrows rose, and she turned to stare at her leather-clad partner. Sure, she might’ve snapped at Chloe, but only recently Chat Noir had walked into the Grand Paris Hotel with a bitter attitude towards the partygoers. Ladybug might’ve corrected him, but at least she’d supported him afterwards. How could Chat Noir apologise on behalf of Ladybug and not say a single word about how Chloe had treated Alya?

  “Right. I can see that,” Chloe murmured, and there was that familiar mischievous glint in her eyes that Marinette was _oh_ so used to seeing at school. “It seems like the both of you aren’t in that good a mood –”

  “Butt out, Chloe,” Alya interrupted.

  “You two lovebirds aren’t fighting, are you?” Chloe sneered, and she took another step closer, her palms pressed against the top of the dining table.

  Ladybug didn’t answer, and although she was busy making sure that no one else overheard the conversation, she realised that Chat hadn’t said anything either.

  “Oh?” Chloe continued with a leer. “So something’s happened?”

  Ladybug shared a look with Chat Noir then, and he looked like he was just as at loss for words as she was. Nothing was wrong, not necessarily, but Chloe was making a scene – as was the norm for Chloe Bourgeois – and she wasn’t especially wrong. The two superheroes’ moods had slipped during the night, and Chloe had caught on to that.

  “Although it isn’t any of your business,” Ladybug told her as politely as she could manage. “Mine and Chat Noir’s relationship is doing perfectly fine, thank you.”

  “Prove it,” she demanded instantly, arms folding over her chest. “Why don’t the lovebirds kiss and make up?”

  Chat Noir sighed. “Chloe, that wouldn’t prove –”

  But Ladybug had reacted too, and her response had been entirely different to her partner’s. She hadn’t entirely processed what Chat was telling Chloe by the time Ladybug had twisted around in her seat, and she’d already caught Chat Noir’s upper lip between hers by the time realisation dawned.

_That wouldn’t prove anything_. Kissing wouldn’t prove anything.

  Chat hadn’t wanted to kiss.

  She pulled back instantly, but she felt as if her heart was in her throat and her lips were on fire. Ladybug had known from the Erotica incident that Chat’s lips were soft and smooth – he must’ve taken good care of his skin – but they were warm too, and even though Chat Noir had been stunned and unmoving, he had _still_ managed to give her butterflies in her stomach.

  Ladybug hadn’t really known what to expect, but she definitely hadn’t expected him to push his seat back, stand up, murmur, “excuse me,” and then leave.

  Several moments of dead silence ensued.

  Even Chloe stared mutely.

  “Sorry, excuse me,” Ladybug mumbled, and she hurried out of her seat and out of the Grand Paris Hotel’s restaurant to run after Chat Noir. He made it to the foyer before she caught up to him, and she grabbed for his gloved hand to pull him to a standstill. “Wait, Chat. Where are you going – Did I do something wrong?”

  “You didn’t have to prove anything to Chloe,” Chat said as he turned to her, and although his voice hadn’t been stern or harsh, he was unsmiling and evidently bothered. “I don’t think you should’ve done what she told you to do.”

  “I’m sorry, Chat Noir,” Ladybug apologised, but she was surprised and perplexed by his response, and she couldn’t keep it from leaking into the way she spoke. “I didn’t think that you’d be this upset over a kiss.”

  “It might not mean anything to you, but it brings up something for me.”

  Ladybug blanched. _Erotica_ – of course, he had to be talking about the Erotica incident. She’d forced kisses onto him back then, and she’d done it again just moments ago. How could she have forgotten something like that?

  “Oh,” she breathed, and then quickly, with a note of urgency, she exclaimed, “I am so, so, _so_ sorry Chat Noir. I wasn’t even thinking. I just thought that because we were supposed to be fake dating that it would be – it was just a kiss, I thought –”

  “ _Just_ a kiss?” Chat repeated.

  Ladybug’s mouth felt dry, and she couldn’t help but think that her speaking was only making things worse, so she pressed her lips together and tried for a hesitant nod.

  “You know, Ladybug,” he murmured, and she hated – _hated_ – how flat and detached he sounded. “Don’t kiss people if there’s nothing behind it. There’s no point.”

  She felt as if a fist had closed around her heart.

  Had Ladybug been wrong? Had Chat never really felt anything _more_ with her? That’s what he’d essentially just told her; she shouldn’t kiss him because there were no romantic feelings attached, and it hurt Ladybug a lot more than she ever thought possible.

  “I’m sorry, Chat Noir,” she apologised again, and she hoped that Chat couldn’t hear just how upset she really was. “I didn’t know that you felt that way.” Silence followed, and he looked away from her, vibrant green eyes apparently studying the somewhat boring flooring. “Well, if that’s how you feel, maybe we should just stop this whole dating façade.”

  Chat Noir looked at her again, lips pulled down into a frown, and just as he opened his mouth to say, “So, we’re breaking up then,” a few of Mayor Bourgeois’ guests stumbled down the stairs and into the foyer. It was a mixed group of middle-aged women and men, no one that Ladybug knew, and they paused their drunken chatter to stare at the arguing heroes.

  Judging by the way they quietly whispered to one another, Ladybug supposed that the onlookers knew that they’d just walked in on an argument. _Great_.

  “What’s the point?” Ladybug asked, echoing the very same words Chat Noir had said to her moments earlier. They left a bitter aftertaste in her mouth, and she wanted nothing more than to scrub it clean. “There’s nothing behind it, right?”

  Chat Noir stared at her, the warmth and affection in his bright green eyes morphing into something entirely different, and Ladybug thought that just for a moment he might disagree and they’d end this stupid argument.

  Instead, he said, “Please tell Mayor Bourgeois that something important came up and I had to take my leave.”

  And then Chat Noir – _her_ Chat Noir, the Chat to their Bug and Cat team, her partner, her _crush_ – turned sharply on his heel, and stalked out of the Grand Paris Hotel and onto the dark streets. Then Ladybug was left alone, speechless and dejected, with a muttering gathering of spectators ogling her, wondering just _how,_ on the night she planned to confess to Chat Noir, had everything gone so horrible?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> when you have a real breakup with your fake partner ??? ?  
> thanks for all the comments and kudos! the comments on the last chapter made me smile so much, such a shame i had to ruin it with this chapter lmao (•⊙ω⊙•)


	10. Chapter 10

Adrien Agreste was relatively accustomed to being disappointed.

  So, he tried not to think too much about how Ladybug didn’t return his feelings, or how when she had kissed him it had sent his heart racing a mile a minute, but she’d deemed it as nothing more than ‘just a kiss.’ He tried not to think too hard about how he’d thought that maybe, just maybe, he might’ve had a chance with her over the past few weeks, and how, quite evidently, he had been very wrong.

 Ladybug was not interested in him. Adrien had found that out first hand a week ago at the Mayor’s celebratory dinner.

  A week, and he hadn’t uttered a single word to Ladybug. That was seven days. One hundred and sixty-eight hours he’d gone without speaking to Ladybug.

  It wasn’t like Adrien hated her, or that he didn’t want to be her best friend anymore, but he didn’t know what to do or how he should he act. He was, after all, only a schoolboy who’d had his heart broken by his one true love.

  That wasn’t to say that Adrien hadn’t necessary _seen_ Ladybug. He was the superhero Chat Noir, and he had a duty to the city of Paris – despite his recent argument with his crime-fighting partner. It had been on the Wednesday when an akuma had sprung up in the city, a relatively small nuisance that went by the alias ‘Speed Walker’ and forced civilians into never-ending speed walking. Ladybug had been on the scene first, and the two heroes had acknowledged each other with a curt nod before Ladybug briskly called out to divulge the location of the akuma. They hadn’t bothered to communicate any further, and while Ladybug attacked head on with her yoyo, Chat Noir had quickly slipped in and snatched the akumatised watch off the Speed Walker’s wrist.

  It had been unusual to say the least, and uncomfortably tense. Adrien hadn’t remembered the last time he’d met up with Ladybug and had never spoken to her, and as a matter of fact – he didn’t think there’d ever been a situation like that before. There had been the Erotica incident, of course, but that had hardly lasted over a full twenty-four hours, and the thickness in the air had been nowhere near as heavy as what it had been with the Speed Walker. He hadn’t even uttered a single word to her as Chat Noir – not a single peep, and when the akuma had been taken care of and Ladybug turned to face him, a trickle of sweat on her brow as she raised her fist for their routine fist bump, he’d seen her face drop. Ladybug had frowned, her hands disappeared behind her back, and she turned her back on him to speak to the akumatised victim.

  Adrien felt like she’d personally ripped his heart out of his chest, but the expression of gloom on her face was etched into his retinas. It was unfitting for his character, but he couldn’t help but feel the slightest bit bitter towards her. What was Ladybug so depressed for? She was the one that had turned him down. She was the one that had turned her back on him.

  If seeing Ladybug wasn’t bad enough, then there had been the press.

  It became obvious to Adrien that every single man, woman, and child in Paris knew about Ladybug and Chat Noir’s argument at the Grand Paris Hotel, and they all had their own assumptions about why it had transpired.

  “Is work getting in the way of your relationship?”

  “Is the relationship not working because of your secret identities?”

  “Are you not spending enough time together?”

  “Has something come between the two of you?”

  He had wanted to tell them all to stay out of it; it wasn’t any of their business and they needed to respect Ladybug’s and his private lives, but he knew that would only stir things up further. As Chat Noir, however, he felt more inclined to display how he truthfully felt – which he couldn’t often do as the son of Gabriel Agreste – and so, he allowed himself to regard the audience with expressions varying from disinterest, to nonchalance, to absolute annoyance. He was positively certain that the crowd was entirely aware of just how bad of a mood he was in, but it didn’t help the slightest to cease their intrusive questions.

  “What’s your official statement?”

  “Can we get input on the argument?”

  “Chat Noir, can we get an official statement?”

  Chat Noir gritted his teeth, tension coiling tightly between his eyebrows, and he would’ve dismissed the question with an impatient shake of his head, but he caught the red and black shimmer of Ladybug’s spandex suit in the sunlight beside him, and by the time he had turned his head to look at her, she’d already said her piece.

  “Chat Noir and I are no longer dating,” Ladybug proclaimed, and although she’d been talking to their audience – she hadn’t even acknowledged him – Chat felt like Ladybug had stomped on the heart she’d already torn from his chest. “The argument between Chat Noir and I at the Grand Paris Hotel on Saturday night was the break up.”

  A string of frantic ‘Ladybug, Ladybug’s’ followed, and Chat had to focus on the air entering and leaving his lungs. He wanted out, didn’t want to be here, around them, around _her_ – the suit felt too tight and too hot in the most unpleasant of ways, and he had to keep his eyes off Ladybug because the pain was too raw and too harsh. He hadn’t even confessed to her – she may have found out his feelings, but he still hadn’t confessed, and he wondered if Ladybug would ever let him. She had made it strikingly clear, not only to him but also to the whole of Paris now, too, that she didn’t want any sort of romantic relationship with him at all.

  The questions were becoming all too much for Chat, so he left Ladybug to fend the starving journalists – it wasn’t like she wasn’t used to it – and retreated to a smaller group of female fans. Most of them he knew of, not necessarily their names or who they were, but he recognised them from previous gatherings, and although they were young and loud, at that moment, he’d prefer them over breathing in Ladybug’s sweet, sweet perfume.

  Adrien hadn’t ever imagined that his heart might break from the smell of fragrance.

  “Hello, Ladies,” Chat greeted with a bold smile, but it had been unconvincing, and he could tell that by the hesitant looks on his fans faces. “Are you all doing okay?”

  There were only three of them, usually there were larger groups, but Chat didn’t mind all too much. He was glad for the time to breathe and think, and despite everything, he really did enjoy speaking with his fans.

  There was an air of hesitancy before one of the girls asked, “Was it a mutual break up, Chat Noir?”

  His jaw clenched so tightly that he thought he might crack a few of his teeth, but he nodded briefly and answered, “Yes. It’s hard dating when you’re a superhero, so we thought that it would be better this way.”

  “Will you still be partners?”

  “Ladybug and I are a team,” Chat said, but as he did, he sounded robotic and detached. He was tired, and he just wanted to go home. He should have left as soon as Ladybug took over with the journalists.

  “Don’t you think your break up will affect how you work together?”

_Yes._

  “No. We’re able to move past things like that.” Chat Noir wished he’d used cataclysm so he’d have a reason to run off quickly, because in any other circumstance, there was absolutely no way that he would’ve left if someone wanted a chat. Instead, he found himself saying, “Sorry. I’ve got a busy schedule today, so I’ll have to take off.”

  He probably should’ve said something like ‘stay safe’ or ‘take care of yourself,’ and the crowd of witnesses would have most definitely viewed it as suspicious when Chat Noir fled the scene without so much as glancing over at Ladybug, but that was exactly what he did. He told himself next time – next time he’d speak to Ladybug.

  But of course, the Wednesday had ended, and on the Saturday three days after, he hadn’t seen or heard from Ladybug again.

 

* * *

 

Most kids and teenagers looked forward the weekends.

  Adrien, however, wasn’t that fond of them.

  Why? – Well, his father held a fairly tight leash and wasn’t too pleased with Adrien leaving the house on weekends to spend time with his friends, so most times, he’d either have to beg to be allowed out, sneak out, or hole himself up in his bedroom like some sort of hermit. He hadn’t, however, spoken to his father at all in the past week, save for a few greetings and goodbyes – nothing that Adrien wasn’t too unfamiliar with – but it did surprise him on the Saturday afternoon when Gabriel barged into the bedroom as if the house were on fire.

  “F-father?” Adrien questioned, twisting around on the sofa where he’d been watching the television. He briefly noted that Plagg zipped quickly inside his over shirt, unnoticed by Adrien’s investigative father. “Is there something you wanted?”

  “I need to speak to you about something,” he said, but he was silent after that, and it wasn’t until Adrien slipped off the sofa to stand that Gabriel continued. “I had been meaning to talk to you about it earlier in the week, but I’ve been busy.”

  Adrien had to resist the urge to roll his eyes.

  “The night of the Mayor’s dinner,” Gabriel said. “You were _personally_ invited by Andre and Chloe Bourgeois, but you weren’t there. I had Nathalie look for you for an hour before the event, but you were nowhere to be found.”

  Oh, right.

  Adrien had been anticipating this conversation, except he’d expected it to come much sooner. He’d already formulated his excuse in his head days ago, and although he knew it wasn’t entirely believable and wouldn’t mesh well with his father, it was much better than the truth.

  “I was at the school library,” Adrien lied, and when his father cocked an eyebrow, he felt panic flare in his chest and he wanted nothing more to blurt out the rest so he could escape and hide. If he did that, however, he’d be caught out for sure and he could kiss goodbye whatever social life he’d managed to string together. “The school was open for a study session, so I went. I really needed the extra help.”

  “A study session?” Gabriel repeated, as nonchalant as ever, and for a moment, Adrien thought that he’d seen straight through the lie. His father liked the idea of Adrien’s success in all fields, whether that be modelling or academia, and so he’d hoped that by using school as an excuse, he’d be let off easy. “The school organised this – _study session_?”

  Crap. Adrien couldn’t say yes. If Gabriel decided to call to confirm, the school would deny the claim.

  “No, a student organised it.” Adrien paused for a split moment, and before his father could get another word in, he added, “Well, a few students organised it. Everyone was invited.”

  Gabriel’s eyes were cold and piercing as he questioned, “It couldn’t have been another night?”

  It hadn’t sounded much like a question to Adrien, rather more like a statement, and he knew that there was no point in defending himself any further. His father was clearly displeased, and Adrien could only grit his teeth and bare the punishment.

  “Sorry, father. It won’t happen again.”

  Gabriel murmured a throaty approval, and before he left the room, he told Adrien, “You’re to stay home for the remainder of the weekend.” He’d left and closed the door behind him before Adrien could even think about protesting, and with a defeated sigh, he let himself slump back onto the sofa. Plagg zipped out from his hiding place between Adrien’s shirt and over shirt, unexpectedly quiet, and he sat himself down on the coffee table.

  Adrien had expected Plagg to protest, to tell him to ignore what his father had said and sneak out anyway – it was what he usually did –, but the kwami quietly muttered, “Sheesh. That guy,” and continued about his business.

  Perhaps Plagg had sensed something that Adrien hadn’t – that, or he knew that an ache was forming in Adrien’s temples and had decided that the heartbroken boy had heard enough conversation for one day.

 

* * *

 

On the Sunday night, Adrien couldn’t fall asleep.

  He’d been tossing and turning consistently, ignoring exasperated cries from a drowsy Plagg telling him to ‘shut up, stop moving, and just sleep,’ as he begged his brain to turn off everything for a few hours so he could get at least a little sleep. It wasn’t working, and Adrien, with bloodshot eyes and pasty skin, shot upright in his bed, palms thumping loudly against the mattress.

  “Geez, Adrien,” Plagg moaned, one eye open as he glared across at the agitated teenager. “It’s four o’clock in the morning. You have to be up again for school in three hours.”

  Adrien groaned, voice hoarse and dry as he said, “I can’t sleep. I’m too restless.”

  Plagg sighed, long and heavy, and he rubbed his tired eyes as he shifted to hover in front of Adrien’s nose, and through a yawn he asked, “Do you want to get some fresh air?”

  He was relieved that he didn’t have to ask. “Thanks, Plagg.”

  “Mhm,” the kwami muttered. “You owe me extra camembert for this.”

  Adrien let Plagg’s bicker slide, and in a mere few seconds, he was in the suit, out the window and vaulting through the dark and silent streets of Paris. The cool breeze was refreshing against his face, and he could feel the air soak into the leather of his costume as he climbed higher and higher above the city, leaving the Agreste mansion far behind.

  Being Chat Noir came with a lot of perks. Adrien had never even imagined the possibility of scaling the Eiffel Tower at four o’clock in the morning dressed in tight leather and sporting cat ears on the crown of his head, and yet, here he was – doing exactly that. To him, Chat Noir generally meant freedom, and it was a privilege he didn’t often get to express as his civilian self.

  He pulled himself onto the highest platform on the tower and sat, legs hanging off the edge as he stared out, and although it wasn’t conjuring the slightest bit of sleepiness in him – he knew that he’d get no sleep until later in the evening – the cool night breeze and distance from the city was helping to quell the ruckus of the past week’s events. Everything lately had become so different for Adrien recently, and he wasn’t sure what to make of it. Not speaking with Ladybug for a whole week made him irritated and upset, but he still felt too bitter and bigheaded to speak to her after she rejected him the last weekend. It was hard to comprehend – Adrien hadn’t ever believed that a reality where Ladybug and Chat Noir weren’t a team could ever exist.

  He heard a faint tap against the metal behind him, feather light, and he looked over his shoulder half-expecting to discover a small bird with a nest somewhere in the tower’s beams, but he’d found something else instead and he felt his heart skip a beat in his chest.

  Ladybug looked different compared to the last time Chat had seen her. Her skin was unnaturally chalky behind the vibrant red of her mask, and he could see in her languished movements that her body was exhausted. Her dark hair was uncombed and messy, as if she’d only just gotten out of bed, and her lips puckered into an uncertain frown as she attached her yoyo back to the thread at her hip.

  “Can’t sleep?” Ladybug asked, but Chat Noir only stared. “Me too.”

  She didn’t sit, but she moved to stand beside Chat at the edge of the platform, fingers curled around her upper arms as she peered over the edge. If someone had told Chat Noir that Paris’s two superheroes would meet unexpectedly at the top of the Eiffel Tower, sleep-deprived at four o’clock in the morning, unspeaking because of an argument, he wouldn’t have ever believed them.

  He wasn’t sure how much time had passed. It might have only been minutes, but the silence made it feel like hours, and Chat was contemplating on speaking up, maybe ask about how the Mayor’s dinner finished up – anything to break the silence, but Ladybug spoke first.

  “I miss you.”

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey what's that? 10 chapters?? thanks everyone, I hope that you continue to enjoy the story and maybe (hopefully) we can finally start to see some lovin' ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)


	11. Chapter 11

_I miss you_.

  Ladybug’s breath caught in her throat as soon as she’d said it, and her heart was beating a mile a minute in her chest, but god, if she hadn’t meant it. She missed Chat Noir with all her being – missed his stupid puns, missed his lively and playful attitude, missed his beautiful green eyes and his cocky grin, and she missed him entirely for all he was worth. It had been a week, and although it might not have seemed like that long in reality, it had been the loneliest seven days of her entire life. Being on bad terms with Chat Noir? Ladybug _hated_ it; absolutely _loathed_ it, and she didn’t ever, _ever_ want that to happen again.

  So she said it again.

  “I miss you so much, Chat.”

  And then, like a heavy weight had fallen, the thick tension in the air splintered apart and plunged to the ground way below the Eiffel Tower. Chat Noir sprang to his two feet, and with the grace of that of a newborn horse, stumbled his way over to Ladybug to wrap her into a tight hug. His arms tightened around her back, his nose nestled cosily in the junction between her neck and shoulder, and Ladybug could feel his heart beating against his skin just as fast as hers. Her fingers curled into the leather at the sides of his waist, and she savoured the way that he smelt – like warm leather, and the faint scent of his cologne tinged with his sweat. She didn’t ever want to let go.

  “Chat, I’m so sorry –”

  “I’m sorry!” Chat rushed to say, and Ladybug could feel his warm breath through the material of her suit. “Let’s not ignore each other like this again. I don’t like it.”

  “I don’t like it, either.”

  “It’s a deal?”

  “It’s definitely a deal.”

  Ladybug sighed, and she felt Chat’s arms tighten around her. She didn’t particularly mind; she wanted to be as close to Chat Noir as she possibly could, and in the cool, early morning air, he was like her own personal heater. The past week had been like hell for Marinette, and she knew that it showed on her face. She felt like crap, and it made her feel even worse when she saw that Chat Noir was just as worn out as her. It was blatantly obvious that their separation had been just as hard on him than it had been for her, and there was a small, selfish part of her that was glad. For now though, she was in his arms, and she could only think of one other thing that mattered.

  Telling him the truth.

  “Chat,” Ladybug murmured. “There’s something that I really want to talk to you about. It needs to be talked about.”

  He seemed reluctant – she could tell by the stiffness of his body and the hesitancy to pull out of the hug and hold her at arms length. “We don’t have to –”

  “No. We really do. Please just hear me out.” She took a breath, but she felt like her heart was in her throat, and she was all too aware of Chat’s fingers around her arms, and Ladybug tried to tell herself to calm down; this was Chat Noir, her most trusted partner. “I want to start by talking about what happened with Erotica.”

  “I thought –”

  “No! Just –” Ladybug held a finger to his mouth, and she couldn’t help but take small satisfaction in the way his eyes widened and how he audibly gulped. “Just don’t talk for now, alright? I want to tell you everything first.”

  Chat nodded, his vibrant green eyes glistening in the starlight.

  “I really am sorry about what happened, I would never want to force myself onto you like that,” she continued, and as soon as she said it, her finger dropped from his mouth to the side of his check. “I’m sorry because I remember everything that happened, and I’m sorry because despite the circumstances, I _liked_ kissing you.”

  Chat Noir choked on his own tongue, wheezing something unintelligible under his breath, and Ladybug felt his skin warming through the spandex of her glove.

  “I’m sorry about what happened with the Boxer, too. You were right, I did want to kiss you, and the box –” She had to pause when her voice jumped, and although Ladybug’s face grew vibrant red, Chat remained quietly waiting. “The atmosphere in the box, for me, anyway – it was, it was hot and cramped, and I know that it’s easy to blame it all on hormones, but I’m sorry for that too.”

  “You don’t have to be –” Ladybug shook her head, and Chat instantly bit down on his bottom lip. She’d noticed that his voice had been deeper, and she swallowed a thick lump in her throat. Her mouth was dry and she was pretty certain that her knees were trembling, but she was getting through this.

  “I’m sorry for kissing you at the mayor’s dinner –”

  “Ladybug –”

  “Let me finish. I’m sorry for kissing you then, I thought…” Ladybug stopped, and she could feel Chat’s breath on her lips. She hadn’t realised that they’d gotten closer, and she couldn’t determine if that had been on her end or his. “I thought that we felt the same, but I must have gotten it wrong. If you don’t feel the same, that’s fine. I just want us to go back to normal.”

  Chat’s lips parted, then froze as if all the thoughts from his brain had vanished, but Ladybug could see that his eyebrows had pinched together beneath his mask, and she suddenly felt her stomach flip. “Felt the same?” He repeated.

  “I don’t want you –” Ladybug’s voice caught again, and her breath hitched before she took a breath and said, “I don’t want you to think that these feelings came because of the kiss. I think that I’ve liked you for a long time now, but I’d always been blinded by something else.”

  "You – You –”

  “You were so understanding about everything that happened,” Ladybug admitted, and she stroked the underside of Chat’s black mask with her thumb. “With the Erotica incident, I mean. You weren’t angry or upset at me, during and after it happened. You always – You –” She sighed, and shook her head. “You’re always so worried about me, always protecting me, always making sure that _I’m_ okay. You’re like that with everyone, really, and I know, despite you being a notorious show off, that because you’re so caring and considerate and understanding, that I like you. It’s how I know that I’m going to fall in love with you.”

  Chat Noir’s skin blossomed the same ruddy red as Ladybug’s suit, and his gloved hands left Ladybug’s arms to hide his face. Ladybug’s own fingers shifted to tug nervously at her bottom lip, and her eyes widened at the high-pitched squeal her partner let off. She wasn’t too sure what to do – she was kind of shocked, really. He wasn’t acknowledging her, only hiding, and when he finally did peek at her through the cracks of his fingers, Ladybug dropped her hands to her sides.

  “You like me?” Chat asked her.

  Ladybug nodded. “A lot.”

  His forehead bumped against hers, and Ladybug didn’t think that her eyes had ever grown so wide before. “Idiot,” Chat mumbled, and he took her cheeks into his hands, leather gloves warm against her skin, and Ladybug’s breath quickened when his nose pushed into her cheek.

  “Wh – What are you doing?”

  “Ladybug, I’m in love with you.”

  At four o’clock in the morning, atop the Eiffel Tower, Chat Noir kissed Ladybug.

  He tasted of heat and pure warmth, and Ladybug could hardly believe the blissful feeling of his soft lips kissing her, moving with her, his thumbs dragging soft patterns into her skin. She thought it was clumsy, teeth clashing every now and then, not entirely knowing what to do, but Chat sucked her upper lip between his, and Ladybug’s fingers involuntarily burrowed into his thick hair. She must’ve tugged too hard because Chat’s lips left hers, and she chased after them instantly. She couldn’t get enough; each touch of his lips against hers left tingles against her skin, and Ladybug was almost entirely certain that now she’d kissed him, she’d never have enough. She’d always need more, and more, and she wanted all Chat Noir had to offer.

  “We’re supposed to be broken up,” Chat whispered against her mouth, and the warm breath against the wetness of her lips was sensational. “You broke up with me.”

  Ladybug laughed breathlessly, and she released her grasp on his hair to press her palms into her forehead. “I feel like an idiot.”

  Chat’s wide grin replenished every ounce of energy in Ladybug’s body, despite her rather excessive lack of sleep, and she felt the familiar burn of a blush creeping down the apples of her cheeks as he laughed. “To be completely honest, My Lady, I was prepared to crawl into my bed and never see the light of day again.”

  “A little melodramatic, don’t you think, Chaton?”

  “But, as it turns out, you like me a lot.”

  “Oh?” Ladybug’s brows rose beneath her polka-dotted mask.

  “You even think you’re going to fall in love with me.”

  “Did I say that?” She teased, feigning innocence with a head tilt and a confused pout. “I don’t remember saying that at all. I, on the other hand, definitely remember hearing you say that you _love_ me.”

  “The honest to god truth,” Chat Noir told her, and Ladybug was somewhat startled by how genuinely he met her gaze, his own eyes stripped bare to expose the deepest of his emotions. His hand caught hers, and he ran his thumb along her knucklebones as he brought them gently to his lips. “I do love you, My Lady.”

  Ladybug had been all guts and boldness and courage before, but a few couple words and she was at a complete loss for words. Her heart ached in the most beautiful way for Chat Noir, and she wanted to spend every single day making him feel as loved as he made her feel. With her free hand, she punched Chat’s shoulder with a loose fist, and he grinned as he threaded his long fingers through hers.

  “Dork,” she murmured. “Stupid dork.”

  His forehead pressed against hers, and Ladybug held her breath, anticipating the feel of his soft lips against hers once more, but instead he whispered, “In all honesty Ladybug, I’ve loved you for a long time. I don’t want to do anything that might ruin that.”

  “You won’t,” she told him as she ran her fingers through his hair. She could feel his chest moving against hers, rising and falling rapidly with each quick breath he took. Her eyes were wide open, but Chat’s were closed, and Ladybug swallowed a thick lump in her throat. “You don’t have to worry, Chat Noir. This isn’t like last time. We want to be together. It’s real, now.”

  “That’s what I’m worried about.” Chat’s eyes opened then, luminous green shining in the dark morning, and Ladybug felt the gloved claw of his thumb brush tantalisingly slow across the apple of her cheek.

  Ladybug nodded slowly, and she had to move back a pace to clear the hazy thoughts in her head. She wanted to kiss him again, and again, and probably one or a few couple more times, but Chat seemed anxious about the whole thing, and she didn’t want to risk pushing anything too far.

  “Why don’t we take things slow?” She suggested, and she’d almost forgotten that she was holding Chat’s hand until he squeezed lightly. “Take our time to feel around and see what happens? We don’t have to tell anyone about it.”

  Chat Noir’s eyebrows furrowed beneath his black mask, but he nodded his head slowly in agreement. “Let’s take things slow.”

  “Yeah. Slow.”

 

  The chances of taking things slow were little to nil.

 

 

 


	12. Chapter 12

Their plan to _‘take things slow’_ had gone downhill abruptly.

            They’d made it through the first one or two weeks, mostly during patrols since akuma victims had been scarce – which wasn’t a bad thing at all – and had shared flirty remarks and sweet, shy kisses. All in all, not much changed between the two heroes, and they didn’t mind that.

            At least, that was until the third week after their confessions.

            Marinette liked to _think_ of herself as being a responsible, young adult, but for the past few weeks, her hormones had been in overdrive and a particular leather-clad cat drove her absolutely insane. She dreamt about the way he looked at her, held her tight to him, and of how he smelt of warm leather and summer, despite the quickly cooling winter. She’d had to focus on school with upcoming exams and tests, so she’d only been able to meet up with Chat Noir on the Eve of Christmas Eve – five days had passed since then –, and with Christmas joy still bubbling in the air and the approaching New Year, the citizens of Paris were all too busy to trigger Hawkmoth’s akuma – Marinette was certain an akuma attack was due soon with all the chaos of the holiday season, but she’d patiently wait it out. For the time being, she’d gotten through all her school exams, and after going a short week without seeing Chat, she was growing restless.

            So, she had to remind herself.

            Marinette Dupain-Cheng was a _responsible_ young adult.

            Or at least, that’s what she kept telling herself.

            “You and Chat Noir have gone longer without seeing each other before,” Tikki stated from her perch above Marinette’s computer screen, watching with mild fascination as the teenager swivelled in her desk chair restlessly. “It’s only been three days and you’re going stir crazy.”

            “I’m not going stir crazy!” Marinette defended, and she paused her endless spinning to fold her arms over her chest and look Tikki in the eyes as she said, “I’m perfectly independent.” She scooted closer to her desk to rest her elbows on the table, and she propped her chin on top of her knuckles as she murmured, “I wonder how Chat Noir’s Christmas was. When we last saw each other, he didn’t seem to bothered about it.” Marinette paused again, a smile on her lips as she continued, “I hope he had a good Christmas.”

            Tikki giggled from above her, and with her small hands pressed over her mouth, she said, “Your head is filled with thoughts of Chat Noir, lately.”

            Marinette’s cheeks flushed a deep red, and she folded her arms defensively across her chest as she huffed, “My head isn’t _only_ filled with Chat Noir. I have other things on my mind, too.”

            “I wasn’t saying it was a bad thing, Marinette,” Tikki told her, and she zipped through the small space between them to hover in front of Marinette’s nose. “I’m glad that you are both happy.”

            She might’ve replied with something sappy and sentimental, but her mobile phone screamed at her, and she fumbled to get a hold of the device before it woke her sleeping parents.

            **LIVE NEWS: CHAUMET BREAK-IN.**

            It made sense to Marinette. With Christmas just gone, most jewellery stores had excess quantities of stock leftover – a perfect target for robberies. Feather-light bubbles drifted in her stomach, and in a matter of mere moments, Marinette leapt to her two feet, scrambled up the ladder to her loft, and had donned the red and black suit just as she burst through the porthole and flung herself through the slowly stilling streets of Paris. By the time she’d swung a few miles down the street, she could already hear the faint blare of police sirens, steadily growing louder as she drew near to the store, and as she swung to the ground and slowed her run into a walk, she caught sight of a familiar leather-clad boy sitting atop the hood of an empty police car.

            “Slacking off on the job, Chaton?” Ladybug teased, and she savoured the vision of Chat Noir as he twisted his torso frenetically to meet her eyes. He had a lollipop between his lips, the white stick held loosely between his thumb and forefinger, but he plucked it from his mouth and shot her a dizzying grin.

            Somehow, the cold winter night grew warmer.

           “Me? Slacking?” Chat Noir accompanied the tone of theatrical disbelief with a hand to his chest, and he licked sticky, candy residue off his lips before continuing, “My Lady, you wound me.”

           He slid off the hood when she approached – how he hadn’t gotten lectured by the police, Ladybug had no idea – and in one, fluid movement, Chat bent at the waist, slipped his hand around hers, and pressed a light kiss onto the red fabric that stretched over her knuckles. “Oh?” Ladybug grinned, and she laced her gloved fingers through his leather-clad ones. “So what’s your excuse for sitting around then?”

           “Well, My Lady, it appears that we’re not needed,” Chat Noir told her, and Ladybug felt her stomach flip when he drew gentle circles into her skin with his clawed thumb. “The police have already dealt with it.”

           She shot a look over her shoulder, at the two empty police vehicles and the few policemen loitering outside of the jewellery store, and she tried to remember the last time that she and Chat Noir went unneeded – she couldn’t recall a time, so she supposed that it must’ve been the first.

          “At least we know that we don’t have to be on the clock twenty-four seven when it comes to petty crime,” Ladybug said, and as the shriek of the police sirens finally died out, she caught her bottom lip between her teeth and tugged on Chat’s hands. “But since we’re already out…?”

          “A moonlit stroll around the city?” Chat Noir interrupted, but he followed her without protest as Ladybug pulled him into the dark nook of a dimly lit alley. It was quieter, and much warmer, and as Chat prattled on and on about racing around Paris, or climbing up to the very top of the Eifel Tower, Ladybug felt the cold bite of jagged bricks as they dug into her back. “You know, cats are nocturnal Ladybug? I could stay up all night –”

          “Can you just –” Ladybug pressed her fingertips to his lips, and she smiled at him as she said, “You’re cute and I love listening to you talk, but for the past week, I’ve been driven crazy by thoughts of you.”

          “M-Me?” Chat squeaked.

          “You.”

          Chat Noir’s neck had grown red and blotchy, but the widening of his pupils hadn’t gone unnoticed. “What sort of thoughts?”

          Ladybug felt the familiar flush of heat between her legs – something that had been common over the past week, especially while she was alone in her bed at night – and she fantasied the vision of his face as she told him about her deepest, darkest, teenage hormone-induced imaginations. She brushed the thought away instantly.

         They’d agreed to take things slow after all.

         Instead, Ladybug let her lips wander lightly over his – something they were both accustomed to as of late, and she feathered her gloved fingers through his thick hair, making an extra effort to drag her nails across his scalp like she _knew_ he liked. Sure enough, Chat Noir let out a high-pitched whine and as ghosted over her mouth and across her cheek, Ladybug felt a delightful jolt of heat between her thighs that she hadn’t ever – _ever_ – experienced before.

        Slow, she reminded herself. Slow.

       The lack of contact between her legs was making it increasingly uncomfortable for Ladybug, but kissing alone seemed pleasurable enough for Chat Noir – not that she wasn’t enjoying it either – and she’d be damned if she pushed things too far because her libido was set in hyper drive. Chat Noir’s mouth tasted like sweet apples, and Ladybug wondered if he’d been snacking on one before he’d gotten the news alert and rushed out to the scene. She’d need to bring him some more carbs – maybe something savoury in case he was getting sick of sweet pastries.

      She felt his fingers spread below her hipbone, the tips of his gloved claws digging into the rise of her ass, and when he pressed closer, Ladybug gasped into the apple of his right cheek. “Is this too fast?” Chat asked her, but Ladybug could hardly concentrate. His breathing was heavy and ragged, and it made his body tremble and shudder with each and every breath. It wasn’t the first time Chat Noir’s knee had been between her thighs – in fact, it had been quite common before anything romantic had started between them – but when Ladybug was pulsating and drunk on the smell of Chat’s leather and skin, she hadn’t ever imagined a feeling so delightful.

      Ladybug shook her head, and if anything, she wanted him to ask him to move – and, if she were being bold, to even touch her – but her fingers were already prying at his collar, and her lips had already latched onto the smooth flesh at his throat. She pressed open-mouthed kisses to his skin, slack and sloppy and hardly proper kisses at all, but when she grew unsatisfied with Chat’s response, she licked a long, wet strip up along a protruding jugular vein.

_That_ seemed to elicit _something_.

      She both heard and felt him swallow heavily, his other hand shifting to rest below the opposite hip, and Ladybug wasn’t too entirely sure if it had been intentional or not, but Chat’s fingertips pressed into the soft flesh of her ass, and although she was almost completely positive that his only intention was to pull her closer to him, his hands slowly drew her cheeks apart.

      Ladybug bit into his neck because she did _not_ trust herself to be discreet at the new delicious sensation of being stretched. She thought that she heard Chat Noir cry out, but her ears were buzzing and she didn’t realise until too late that she’d been digging her teeth into his skin.

      “Sorry!” She exclaimed as she leant back, and she pressed her gloved fingers over the reddening bite marks as if it might miraculously heal them. “I’m sorry Chat, I –”

       He released her and then grabbed her again instantly, his hands spreading her further than they had mere moments ago, and his fingertips sunk into the narrow crack between her cheeks, his claws pricking at the warm spandex. “Do that again,” Chat Noir panted, and Ladybug was beginning to find it hard to determine whether it was sweat dampening her suit, or something entirely different. “Ladybug, _please_.”

      Begging. Ladybug could only interpret Chat Noir’s whiny groan as begging, and she decided that she was _in love_ with the sound of him begging her.

      She nipped at the same red, irritated skin, now blotchy and distinguishably noticeable, and she was surprised at how it made her stomach flutter and spin. She flattened her tongue against his skin and licked, glazing his flesh in her spit, and as she bit down again she wondered how – just _how_ – hadn’t she found his grunts and gaps during battle arousing before? She was almost sure that the stiffness she felt pressing against her pelvis wasn’t Chat Noir’s thigh, and after one final kiss to his throat, she pulled back a mere inch to glance down, but Chat’s fingers had crept down a little too far, and when a single finger slipped between her thighs, Ladybug yelped out, her body jumping with a start.

      “S-Sorry, Ladybug!” Chat Noir cried, his face flustered and red, and he took a large step back, eyes involuntarily darting from between Ladybug’s thighs to her eyes. “I didn’t mean to.”

      “It’s fine!” She rushed to reassure, but she felt her face burning in embarrassment. Ladybug knew her suit – knew how it was flexible and breathable, and how it definitely _didn’t_ trap moisture in the slightest. Chat Noir must’ve been able to feel the wetness between her thighs, and as she squeezed them together, she willed herself to ignore the dull throbbing. “Chat, it’s fine – really. It’s okay.”

       Several moments of silence ensued, disrupted only by the heavy panting of their breaths, and after a short beat, Ladybug reached forward and delicately ran her fingers along the mark that stained Chat Noir’s neck. “I hope that doesn’t bruise,” she said, and with a sheepish smile she added, “Sorry. I didn’t mean to bite so hard.”

       “No, I liked –” His voice jumped an octave, and when Ladybug’s lips curled into a cunning grin, Chat Noir’s eyes glowed and he rephrased, “I _might’ve_ liked it a little.”

       “Oh? A little?” Ladybug hummed to herself, her hands snapping to her hips. “I think that you definitely _might’ve_ liked it a lot.”

       Chat grinned mischievously, a delicious sight with his red and swollen lips, but when he leant forward to share a kiss, Ladybug pressed her fingertip into his nose and ducked away. “So, Ladybug,” he began, turning around to face her once more. “Slow?”

        Ladybug shrugged. “Let’s take it how we like it.”

        “And how _do_ _we_ like it?”

         “ _How_?” She contemplated that one for a short moment, and she licked her lips deliberately slow, delighted in the way his eyes trailed the movement of her tongue, and then she answered, “We’ll have to see – but for now, we better head home, Kitty.”

        “As always, it was a pleasure, My Lady,” Chat Noir teased, a cocksure smirk stained on his lips, and when he reached for Ladybug’s hand, she stood on her tiptoes and pressed a feather light kiss on his right cheek, just below the border of his mask. “Won’t you dream of me tonight?”

        Ladybug rolled her eyes and readied her yo-yo, but she left him unanswered because she wouldn’t lie.

       She would most definitely dream of him that night.

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OK SO i had originally intended to get this out around christmas week but i was in major struggle down and had huge writing block so ??? yeah that happened - but anyway, hope you all had a good christmas/holidays and a happy new year, and sorry for the delay i hope this chapter is ok!
> 
> but yeah lmao ok the sin started slow but it's coming ok it's coming  
> thanks for reading (╯3╰)


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hEY. um so this chapter gets a little hot & heavy just so u know (yea the sin is finally starting to heat up) so yup! just a little heads up okk enjoy ~~

Adrien woke up that morning in an extraordinarily good mood. His room was cool and quiet, but he was warm and content beneath the several sheets of his bed, and even if he wanted to, he couldn’t wipe the dopey, drugged smile from his lips.

            Three weeks ago Adrien had thought that he’d lost all chances of having any sort of a romantic relationship with the daring super heroine Ladybug, and yet, that previous night, withdrawn in a narrow and steamy alleyway corner, he’d been brought to attention just _how_ much his polka-dotted partner actually desired him. It was burned into his retinas, the softness of her body seared into his fingertips, and he could remember every breath, every touch, and every word in bright, vivid detail – and the real thing was _so_ much better than anything he’d ever dreamt or imagined. He had wanted more that previous night –wanted her to touch him, wanted to run his hands all over her, like he’d only ever fantasied about before, but their romantic relationship was still only a few weeks old, and besides; there was only so much they could get up to without revealing their identities to one another.

            Not that Adrien minded if Ladybug knew who he was. He’d wanted to know the girl behind the mask since the day they’d taken down their very first akuma together. But Ladybug was insistent on having their civilian selves remain a secret to all, so he wouldn’t push the issue any further. He’d wanted Ladybug for so long, and now that he’d finally gotten her, that was more than enough.

            “Adrien,” Plagg whined, as grumbly and nasally as ever, and Adrien sighed as he kicked the blankets to the edge of the mattress and rolled out of bed. He wouldn’t get back to sleep now anyway; his mind was too preoccupied. “Cheese. Hungry. Camembert.”

            “Yeah, yeah,” Adrien mumbled, and he’d already crossed the room, walked out the door and was jogging down the steps before he felt Plagg zip beneath his bed shirt and whisper incoherent words furiously. Adrien had stopped at the bottom of the staircase before he murmured a sluggish, “huh?”

            He heard Plagg hiss a quiet _‘last night,’ ‘neck,’ ‘father,’_ and _‘not good.’_ It took Adrien a few longer than necessary moments, but when he finally pieced the words together in his head, he slapped a hand over his neck and tucked tail and scrambled back up the steps. He’d made it about halfway up when he heard the familiar click of heels against the marble floors, and he wasn’t sure if it was Plagg shrieking quietly or himself, but his heart was in his throat and he almost felt like laughing.

            “Adrien, good morning,” Nathalie greeted, and at the sound of the neutral tone in her voice, Adrien came to a standstill; one hand gripping tightly onto the banister, the other smothered against his neck. “Breakfast is set on the table.”

            “T-Thanks,” he said, and it took all he had to keep the shakiness out of his voice. “I’ll be down in a second.”

            “Adrien.” His father. Voice stern, straight, detached.

            “Not good,” Plagg muttered the same time Adrien breathed out, “Crap.”

            “There are things I would like to talk to you about,” Gabriel continued, and as Adrien made his slow decent down the steps, he chewed on the inside of his cheek and pleaded maybe, just maybe, his father wouldn’t recognise the bruised love bite on his neck. Holding his hand over the mark would certainly draw attention, but the blotchy area was startlingly discoloured against his pale skin, and there was no way that Gabriel would overlook it.

            Gabriel sat at the very end of the dining table, his nose stuck into the electronic tablet in his hands, and Adrien wandered over to him slowly and carefully, as if one wrong move would set off a minefield. His father looked up in the next instant, and as his eyes froze somewhere between Adrien’s chin and shoulder blade, Adrien could’ve sworn that his heart stopped beating. He’d seen it; of course he had seen it – he had the sharp and piercing eyes of a hawk, and as Plagg shifted around beneath Adrien’s shirt, Adrien swallowed a thick lump in his throat.

            Gabriel set the tablet down on the table quietly, and he steepled his fingers before he demanded, “Adrien. What is that on your neck?”

            “What’s what?” He asked dumbly, but his father wasn’t the type to ask twice, and Adrien hesitated for five long moments before he said, “It’s just – It’s from a girl that I’m seeing.”

            Gabriel’s eyes were cold and calculating. “Who?”

            “You wouldn’t know her.”

            He was quiet for a solid few moments, and for a short instant, Adrien thought that he would have to prattle on – milk out some more excuses – but Gabriel cleared his throat, sat up straighter, and in a hushed but stern voice, said, “You’ll do well to tell this girl that, especially in our line of business, – blemishes, of that sort, are unseemly.”

            “Yes Father.”

            “Pardon me, Mr Agreste,” Nathalie quietly interrupted, and Adrien released a pent up breath he hadn’t realised he had been holding. “You need to leave for you eleven o’clock meeting with the models for the spring shoot.”

            Gabriel nodded once, all the acknowledgement that was needed before Nathalie scampered off into one of the other rooms, and Adrien watched in thick silence as his father collected his tablet and other various paperwork. Before he left the room, he said, “If you intend to leave the house before that… _mark_ , heals, you would do well to cover it up.”

            “Yes Father,” Adrien repeated, and he hadn’t realised until his father left the room that he’d been clenching his hands so tightly that his fingernails had left bruising crescents into the soft flesh of his palms. Nathalie spared him an apologetic glance – although he was sure that she too was observing the purple bruise on Adrien’s throat – and nodded once before she followed Gabriel Agreste out of the room.

            When the coast was clear, Plagg dipped out from underneath Adrien’s shirt, and although he looked uncharacteristically hesitant – the kwami almost always never had a filter and blurted out whatever he wanted whenever he wanted, – he mumbled, “I did try to warn you.” Plagg paused, and quietly with more sentiment, added, “I’m sorry, kid.”

            Adrien shrugged it off. What did it matter to him? – Who cared if his father was more worried about his son’s career than his happiness?

 

* * *

 

“What did you bake for him this time?”

            “Macaroons.”

            An amused giggle bubbled in Tikki’s throat, and Marinette’s eyebrows rose as she glanced over at the small kwami. She finished packing the raspberry macaroons neatly into a Tupperware container – Chat Noir still hadn’t returned the last one, and she was beginning to seriously wonder if he intended on keeping it – and slipped it in her tote bag.

            “I thought you said you weren’t going to make him sweets this time?” Tikki questioned, zipping to beat Marinette to her mattress as she climbed the ladder.

            “I changed my mind,” Marinette defended, and when she scrambled onto the loft, she peered over the edge to squint at the computer screen. It was still fairly early in the afternoon, and although it was a Sunday – the day Chat Noir and Ladybug most commonly went on patrol together – it would still be another few hours until their usual meeting time. “I think Chat Noir will like raspberry.”

            “The raspberry macaroons, or the raspberry chap-stick?” Tikki teased.

            Marinette stuck out her tongue.

            Despite the teasing, Tikki had been incredibly supportive over the whole relationship with Chat Noir ordeal – not that Marinette didn’t think she would be anything but supportive. Rather, she couldn’t go to anyone about it, so Tikki was most literally her _only_ option other than Chat Noir himself. And so, Tikki had offered to be Marinette’s personal advice vending machine – free of charge. She’d even gone as far as encouraging Marinette to talk about her more… _carnal_ issues, and although the poor teenager had blushed beetroot red and fumbled over her every word, Tikki had sat quietly and listened, offering her advice and opinions only when she was asked.

            “But then again,” Tikki had said once they’d gotten over the embarrassing talk. “I’m not really human, am I? I guess I’m no expert.”

            Their discussion was still fresh in Marinette’s mind, and although she was comfortable telling Tikki almost anything, there was a single, nagging issue that she just couldn’t find herself telling her kwami, but it was constantly on her mind. Sure; at the moment, things between her and Chat Noir were going great, and she couldn’t be happier. Except, for one teeny tiny little detail.

            Eventually, if there were any hope of a _real_ future between them, they would have to reveal their identities to one another.

            Marinette Dupain-Cheng was only a teenage girl, so yes, she had thought about how a future with Chat Noir might turn out, and when she hit into the adult milestone, she began to seriously consider if the relationship would work after all. She wasn’t planning on quitting being Ladybug any time soon, and if she had it her way, she’d continue being Ladybug until she was an old woman. She was sure that she could still see Chat Noir, that he wouldn’t disappear either, but even if they continued their relationship for the next ten or so years, then what?

            Would they get married? If they did, would they live together? Would they be forced to spend all their time together in their masks? There were too many ‘would we’s’ and ‘what if’s’.

            It afflicted her brain like a plague, so, she confessed.

            “Tikki, I’ve been thinking about telling Chat Noir who I am.”

            There was a heavy moment of silence, and Tikki blinked twice before calmly asking, “Pardon, Marinette?”

            “I know I said I wouldn’t,” Marinette continued on to explain, and once she had settled on her bed, she held her hand out for Tikki to perch on. “I have thought about telling Chat Noir my identity before – years ago, and I always told myself that I couldn’t because it’s what a smart superhero would do.”

            “And now you’re not smart?” Tikki interrupted.

            “No. I didn’t say that.” She paused, wetting her lips before she said, “I know that it isn’t smart to tell anyone, even Chat Noir, but the way I see it, I have two choices. I can use my head and not tell him, and see our relationship inevitably end. Or, I follow my heart and tell him, and we can move forward.” Marinette sighed, and she shrugged her shoulders in defeat. “I can choose to have a future with Chat, or I abandon it. I don’t want to abandon it, Tikki.”

            Tikki nodded slowly, as if she were considering something important, and in the next instant, she flashed a bright smile and held two tiny thumbs up. “I support you wholly, Marinette! I’ve been rooting for Chat Noir since the day you first told me about him.”

            Marinette narrowed her eyes. “I knew it.” She smiled when Tikki giggled, and she adjusted the strap of her tote bag as she stood on her bed, popping open the latch to the porthole, and she sucked in a deep breath as she exclaimed, “Well, here goes nothing. Tikki, spots on!”

 

* * *

 

It was snowing.

            Not a lot, only a small sprinkle, but as Marinette waited by the sculpture of Ladybug and Chat Noir, she wished that she’d brought a jumper to wear over her spandex suit. She hugged the tote bag close to her thighs, and she drew pictures into the thin layer of snow that coated the grass. It was a quiet night, and apart from her, the park was completely empty. She hadn’t seen anyone on the streets either, and she supposed that the air was too cold for anyone to come out and enjoy the evening.

            She didn’t mind. She only wanted to company of one person anyway.

            An hour had passed before she saw Chat Noir’s silhouette hurdle towards the park, and Marinette felt heat flush her skin as she stood, brushing the snow off the rear of her suit. Chat Noir was apparently a lot smarter than her, since he’d pulled a thick sweater over his costume, and she felt like throwing the bag of macaroons at him when he held his arms out to the side, sly grin spread on his lips as he showed off his ugly Christmas sweater.

            “Eh?” Chat asked, and when he did a slow rotation, eyebrows shifting up and down, Ladybug rolled her eyes. “Well, what do you think?”

            “It’s offensive to look at,” Ladybug told him, and with her index finger, she flicked the ball of wool that acted as Rudolph’s nose. “Besides, it’s way overdue. Christmas has come and gone.”

            “It wasn’t cold enough to wear before Christmas,” he pouted, and Ladybug felt an ounce of leniency. “I put it on _especially_ so you would make fun of me. Aren’t I so thoughtful, My Lady?”

            “Oh, Chaton, you’re _such_ a romantic,” Ladybug crooned. “You know just how to please me.” She pressed a chaste kiss to his forehead – his skin was surprisingly warm – as she draped the strap of her tote bag over his shoulder. “For you,” she told him coolly, but her heart was in her throat, and just looking at his beautiful, bright smile and that stupid, dorky sweater was making her want to pepper kisses all over his stupid little face. “They’re raspberry flavoured, so I hope you like them, and if your father gives you trouble for eating outside of your diet, send him to me. I’ll sort him out,” she added a sultry wink at the end, and she felt Chat’s claws prick into the small of her back.

            “Speaking of my father –”

            “The joyous man.”

            Chat pressed a feather-light kiss to the corner of her mouth, and Ladybug’s lips curled into a lazy smirk as she snaked her arms over his shoulders. He shifted one hand to tap at the purple mark on his neck – Ladybug’s stomach somersaulted at the sight – and she caught her bottom lip between her teeth as she met Chat’s eyes. “Well, you see,” he began teasingly. “He wanted me to tell you that it’s _unseemly_.”

            “Unseemly?” Ladybug repeated, and she gathered the soft fabric of Chat’s sweater in her hands. “Well, as the artist, I find that highly offensive.”

            “Mmhm,” he mumbled, but apparently he had other thoughts in mind, because his mouth disappeared between the junction of her neck and shoulder, and Ladybug hummed contently as he pulled down the material of her suit to kiss the skin there. It was a striking contrast – the heat of Chat Noir’s tongue and the coldness of the wintery air on her wet skin, but pleasurable nonetheless, and Ladybug’s head lolled sideways, drunk on the sensations of Chat’s mouth.

            “Mmh-Hey,” Ladybug mumbled, and her right hand left his shoulder blade to readjust his hand at her hip, sliding it lower down her thigh. “Did you tell your father about me?”

            “That Ladybug was giving me hickeys?” The vibrations of his voice against her sensitive skin had her purring, and her hand tightened around his. “I only said that I was seeing a girl.”

            “You didn’t tell him you have a girlfriend?”

            His lips froze against her skin, and Ladybug began to whine until he pulled back, his nose bumping against hers as he met her eyes. “Girlfriend?” He repeated.

            “W-well, I mean –” She could feel her skin burning up, although, she felt a little better when she saw the blotchy red creeping out from underneath Chat Noir’s mask.

            Chat Noir’s grin was laced with pride. “Bugaboo, are you hitting on me?”

            “I’ll hit you for real in a minute.”

            “Are you saying I’m your boyfriend?” Chat asked, and when Ladybug stuck her tongue out at him, he licked it with his own. It startled her so much she squeaked, and although his cheeks were pink, he was looking at her through half-lidded eyes, and he said, “Call me your boyfriend.”

            Ladybug shook her head, and Chat Noir descended upon her, the tip of his clawed thumb pressing into her bottom lip as he kissed her, and when his tongue slipped into her mouth, she jolted and gripped onto his sweater so tightly that her knuckles grew white. Who the hell was this boy? – She needed to know. What had happened to the bashful Chat Noir; the one that had flushed tomato red after she’d called him gorgeous? She didn’t mind his sudden confidence _at all_ , but his abrupt boldness was surprising to Ladybug, and boy – his tongue in her mouth was doing things to her body that was downright unacceptable in a public park.

            Well, fine. If Chat Noir was being bold, then she would be too.

            Her hand found his again; it had been resting _very_ low on back, and she slowly dragged it across her back, over her hipbone, and down her thigh. He’d stopped kissing her, his tongue slack against his bottom lip, and when Ladybug looked up at him, his eyes were glued to their joined hands. She led his hand between her thighs, and Chat inhaled a sharp breath.

            “Is this okay?” Ladybug whispered, and when Chat nodded, she let her forehead rest against his. He mustn’t have done anything like it before, but she didn’t mind, and she guided his fingers for him, showing him how to move the way it felt good for her, and how many fingers he should use in specific places. The material at the apex of her thighs was wet by the time she released Chat’s hand, leaving him to explore on his own, and her legs trembled when he drew two, slender fingers along her folds. She moaned into his cheek, and as he draw loops around her clothed clit – she’d _definitely_ made sure to let him know where that was – Ladybug’s fingers dug into his hair, the tips of her gloves scraping against his scalp.

            She was seventeen – she _had_ touched herself before, and she hadn’t known just how good Chat Noir’s fingers would feel like compared to her own. There were somersaults low in the pit of her stomach, and trickly little knots that just kept building and building, and she’d felt them before when it was just her, but they’d always disappeared after the first minute or two, but with Chat they kept tightening and tightening, and Ladybug hadn’t realised that she’d been gasping headily into his ear. She didn’t know what it was – if it was the pleasure, or Chat’s heavy breaths or how she could feel his obvious arousal against her, or the blatant fact that they were outside in a public park, but her hands dropped from his hair to his shoulders, and she murmured something incoherent as she pushed him away.

            The small slither of green behind his black, black pupils glowed vibrantly in the darkness.

            “Come on,” Ladybug managed to say, but her legs were unstable – Chat had to help hold her up – as she tried to lead Chat Noir out of the park and into a short alley between two restaurants that had already closed for the night. He reached for her immediately after they’d retreated out of sight, but Ladybug shook her head. “No, no. I – There’s something that I want you to know,” Ladybug told him, and although she’d tried (half-heartedly) to push him away from her, his arms were around her waist and he was showering her face with sweet kisses.

            “What?” Chat murmured, voice muffled since his mouth had found her neck once more. “What is it?”

            “Before we go any further,” She panted the words out, and she wanted to stay focused, but Chat’s wet tongue was too distracting. “I want you – want you, _hum_ –” Ladybug had to grab his face and pull him away, and she whined when he licked his reddened lips. “I hope you don’t mind. M-my name… It’s Marinette.”

            He seemed confused, the middle of his black mask creasing as his eyebrows furrowed, and when he licked his lips again, she couldn’t help but quickly duck in and kiss him. “What –” He murmured around her lips. “What did you say?”

            Ladybug panted, her lips tingly and numb from Chat Noir’s kisses, and as she watched him, his glowing eyes staring at her as if she were the only thing left in the entire world, she felt her heart scream. “My name,” she repeated once more. “It’s Marinette.”

            And it took five silent seconds, but she saw revelation dawn in Chat Noir’s eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I agree with the theory that plagg and tiki have no idea what happens when the sinners are suited up as their superhero personas, so I like to think the two kwami’s would be mostly clueless if mari and adrien didn’t tell them anything ~~ 
> 
> and I don't know if marinette's boldness to confess seems out of character, but I'm kinda on the wagon that says she has no problem with self-confidence outside of ladybug or anything like that, and wouldn't let anything come between what she wants ?? sorry if people think otherwise : ((
> 
>  
> 
> also, lol : - )  
> xoxo


	14. Chapter 14

“But your name is Ladybug?”

            That wasn’t what he wanted to say - not really. Chat Noir’s brain felt like a can of fizzing soda – too much noise and too much racket, there were a thousand and one thoughts piling up inside his head, and yet, the first thing that had come out of his mouth was something as stupid as ‘ _but your name is Ladybug_.’ He wanted to slap himself, and if it weren’t for his sudden trance, he probably would have.

            And the gold award for stuffing up the reveal of his one true love’s identity goes to none other than Adrien Agreste! _Good on ya buddy – you earned it!_

            Ladybug didn’t look angry, or irritated, but rather, she seemed almost insecure, and Chat felt a stab of pain in his heart; it wasn’t, right? – Regret? “No, silly kitty,” she said softly, and her fingers gripped tightly around his. “My civilian-self. When I’m not Ladybug, I’m –”

            “Marinette,” he cut in to finish, and as the word rolled off his tongue, Ladybug’s eyes grew wide. He didn’t know which emotion to go with, – surprise, shock, joy – distress? Chat Noir’s heart was too erratic, and his own emotions were getting the better of him. Yes, he was elated, but yes, he was surprised too. It was a hard to grasp piece of information, especially since it was so vital and had come so rapidly out of the blue.

            Blue.

            Ladybug’s eyes were the brightest of blues; brighter than the sky in spring, brighter than the ocean in summer – bright, so bright. In the moonlight, with the stars reflecting in her eyes, Chat Noir could almost remember a time he’d seen those blue eyes on a Marinette he knew. A distant memory – it had happened ages ago – when he was dealing with The Evillustrator; Ladybug had been out of town on some important errand, and he’d teamed up with Marinette Dupain-Cheng for the night.

            A funny coincidence how Ladybug had disappeared when Marinette Dupain-Cheng was personally involved with an akuma.

            A funny coincidence how Ladybug and Marinette Dupain-Cheng shared the same first name.

            A funny coincidence how Ladybug and Marinette Dupain-Cheng shared the same colour eyes.

            What had Chat Noir called her again? – Princess! Ah, Princess, of course. Marinette Dupain-Cheng had been his Princess for the night while his Lady was coincidentally ‘out of town.’

            Chat Noir felt it hit him like a sack of bricks, and the first – very loud and very sudden – word that slipped from his mouth was, “ _P-Princess?”_

Crimson spread across Ladybug’s face, blotching down her neck and over her ears, and her voice was an octave higher than usual when she demanded, “W-What’s with the Princess? Don’t call me that!”

            “But that’s what I called –” He cut himself off and bit down on his bottom lip because his words were too loud and his heart was beating so hard he was finding it difficult to breathe. “That’s what I called Marinette,” he repeated, and his voice dropped to below a whisper as he clarified, “Marinette Dupain-Cheng.”

            Ladybug’s breath hitched, and she was gripping onto him so tightly that he was seriously concerned that she might sprain his wrist. “There could be a dozen other Marinette’s in Paris,” she whispered breathily, and judging by the way she pressed herself closer to his chest, she apparently liked it when Chat called her by her civilian name.

            Chat Noir shook his head almost frantically, and he couldn’t help but picture the sweet, innocent face of the Marinette Dupain-Cheng that sat in front of him in class. The Marinette Dupain-Cheng that _he’d_ kissed, that _he’d_ touched. His suit seemed _way_ too tight all of a sudden, and he almost choked on his own tongue when her leg pushed into the inside of his thigh. “I think –” His voice jumped, and he swallowed before continuing, “I think I’m right.”

            “I didn’t really think this through,” Ladybug admitted, and Chat watched, entirely enthralled as she chewed on the inside of her bottom lip. “I didn’t mean to just dump this on you so suddenly, I really didn’t. I just wanted you to know so we could move further.”

            “F-Further?” Chat Noir choked. “You’re very upfront.”

            Ladybug’s polka-dotted mask pinched, her brows furrowing, and she asked _oh so_ innocently, “Are you… nervous, Chat?”

            “No!” He blurted, but given that the scenario they’d been in mere seconds before the conversation was still fresh in his head, he couldn’t resist the tempting fantasies of peeling away Ladybug’s mask to find Marinette Dupain-Cheng – and then the suit would be swiftly peeled away too.

            His face blushed brighter than a red traffic light.

            “It’s just that –” Chat was rambling now, on an endless spiral of nerves that he didn’t know how to control, and _god,_ he needed someone to shut him up before he said anything too embarrassing to handle. “I didn’t expect you – Mari-Marinette, to be so – bold –”

            “Bold?” Ladybug repeated, and she withdrew slightly. “Why would you say that? You don’t know me as your civilian-self, do you?”

            Chat licked his lips, and he shrugged a shoulder before answering, “I might know you from school.”

            “We go to the same school?” Ladybug’s fingers found their way to Chat Noir’s hips, and he held his breath when she pressed up against him.

            “Ladybug, can you please –” He was ashamed of the short whine that slipped through his lips, and Ladybug looked up at him through thick lashes as he cleared his throat. “You’re just – And I’m –”

            “I know,” she said abruptly, and he had to pray to the heavens after hearing her knowing, cunning tone. “I can feel it.”

            “Sorr– _Aye!_ ” Chat whimpered when Ladybug palmed his growing arousal, and his hands flung to her waist, the tips of his clawed gloves digging into the material of her suit and into her soft flesh. She traced her thumb over the leather-clad bulge ever-so-slowly, fingers lingering at the base for a few prolonged moments before she pressed her palm flat against him once more.

            “You can ask,” Ladybug whispered to him, and Chat Noir whined in response as his forehead fell against her shoulder. “You can ask me as Ladybug or Marinette.” He felt her breath against his ear, stirring the hairs on his head. “I want to.”

            Her thumb circled around the suspiciously damp area of leather, and Chat Noir couldn’t be entirely sure, but he thought that he might’ve been drooling. “I don’t –” He wheezed, his breath coming short and rapid. “I don’t think your parents would appreciate me waltzing into your home for a – _Oh my God,_ ” Chat sputtered, and he choked loudly when Ladybug slowly began to stroke him through the leather suit.

            Ladybug licked a wet strip along his neck, Chat’s body shivering under the warmth of her soft tongue against his skin, and she whispered, “Then come in through the window, Alley Cat.”

            Chat Noir’s groan of pleasure had Ladybug hesitating for the smallest of seconds, but it was long enough for Chat to catch his breath and cup Ladybug’s face between his hands, and he kissed her so urgently that their teeth knocked together. He could taste blood, but the pain subsided quickly, and when he caught and pinned her wrists together, Ladybug gasped into his open mouth. He ran his tongue along her bottom lip, or at least tried to, but her lips were already parted wide, and they shared a simultaneous moan as their tongues brushed against one another.

            “This isn’t the most romantic setting,” Chat Noir panted out, and his fingers shifted to grip Ladybug’s waist when she licked his upper lip.

            “You can always sneak into my room,” she replied, and she let out a surprised gasp when he hitched her thigh over his hip. “Just another perk of knowing my identity.”

            “Mmhm,” he murmured, but his mind was in a haze because he’d rocked his hips experientially into hers and the friction was so incredibly delicious that his eyes rolled back into his head. It was euphoric, nothing at all like anything he’d experienced before, and he could no longer think straight or comprehend rational thought. He could feel Ladybug’s warm breath against the skin of his neck, heavy and fast, and it was the only sound he could hear. Nothing else was important, and nothing else mattered, and he was blinking through the bright whiteness that had obscured his vision when the loud crack echoed off the walls of the alley.

            Chat Noir held his breath; he was sure Ladybug had been too before she quietly asked, “What was that?”

            It took him a short moment to realise that Ladybug’s tote bag had swung around to his rear. “Oh,” he breathed after a long beat. “I think I just broke the macaroon container.”

            “Mac… A… Roon?” Ladybug repeated slowly and unsteadily, and her fingers spread over his shoulders as she pushed herself away, face tilted upwards as she took a long breath in. “Oh, right. I didn’t realise that I’d pushed you against the wall.”

            Chat couldn’t remember either, but he wasn’t bothered by it. His lips were numb and tingly, and he could taste Ladybug’s raspberry chapstick on his mouth. He wasn’t sure what the time was – it felt like hours had passed, but then it felt like the shortest few moments of his life. Being with Ladybug was so consuming that he lost all track of time, but it was never long enough, and it was proven right when Ladybug took a large step back.

            “Are you leaving now?” He asked, and he almost whimpered at the rapid loss of the once shared body heat between them.

            “I have school tomorrow,” she answered, but she was fiddling with her gloved fingertips and she was biting at her bottom lip, and Chat let himself think that maybe, just _maybe_ , she wanted to stay with him a little longer.

            “Right,” Chat Noir said, and then he nodded his head, repeating, “Right. Me too, I have school tomorrow.”

            Ladybug stepped towards him again, her fingers light against his jawbone, and he felt warmth flutter in his chest when she kissed him lightly on the lips. “I’ll see you tomorrow, maybe?”

            “I will.” He knew he would see her – he sat right in front of her in class, – and his lips spread into a grin as he added quietly, “I’ll definitely see you, Marinette.”

            Chat was sure that her cheeks blushed slightly in the moonlight, and she shoved his shoulder playfully before she retrieved her yoyo from her hip, and after one last, fleeting kiss, she swung up high above the buildings.

            Chat Noir’s fingers clasped tightly at the back of his head, and it took everything he had not to yell into the night. He was happy, oh so happy. He knew who Ladybug was, and he’d make the most of it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> btw guys, with the “chat noir calling marinette princess” thing, I’m referring to the evillustrator episode in french dub in case you only watched english dub ~~ 
> 
> also I had more planned for this chapter and wanted to include other things, but I was super burned out for some reason and left it at this?? so hopefully I’ll get back on the rails soon. anyway thank you so much for kudos and all the comments!! ♥ ♥  
> I hope I can continue making this fic enjoyable for all of you


	15. Chapter 15

“What’s done is done. I can’t change it now.”

   “Exactly, Marinette, which is why you should take the time to properly think these types of things over in the future.”

   Marinette sucked on the inside of her cheek, her mobile phone pressed to her right ear so innocent Parisian citizens wouldn’t walk past and suspect that the crazy, blue-haired teenager was talking to herself. “Tikki,” she said slowly, and she paused just long enough for a moving car before crossing the road. “I thought that you said you liked Chat Noir.”

   “I do like Chat Noir,” Tikki defended, and Marinette could feel the small kwami fluttering just below her left ear. “I just think –”

   “And didn’t you say that you supported the idea of confessing my identity to him?”

   Tikki sighed, and she explained calmly, “I do support you, Marinette. But your decision to tell him was rash and unexpected –”

   “But I talked about it with you!” Marinette defended.

   “You hadn’t discussed it with Chat Noir,” Tikki pointed out, and Marinette pouted like a child being scolded by her mother. The kwami hesitated for a short beat, and Marinette was tempted to glance down at her. “You’re right. What’s done is done, Marinette. Just – next time, please be more careful.”

   “Next time, I promise to be more careful,” Marinette said, although she would have said anything to put a stop to Tikki’s lectures.

   She hadn’t expected to receive an earful after she’d told Tikki that she’d revealed her identity to Chat Noir the night before, but boy. For such a small creature with such a small mouth, she sure had a lot to say. Marinette didn’t take it to heart – she knew that Tikki was only worried and looking out for her, but it did hurt a little. She couldn’t help but think that Tikki didn’t trust her judgement, and despite all the good things that had been happening to her lately, it was still a little bit of a downer to hear doubts from her most treasured friend.

   But what she had with Chat Noir was a good thing.

   Marinette didn’t regret telling Chat that Ladybug and Marinette were one in the same. She wondered what he thought. He had openly stated that he wanted to know Ladybug’s civilian identity, and now that he knew – what happened next? Would he reveal himself? Marinette didn’t know what to think about that. She couldn’t picture Chat Noir as anyone else except for Chat Noir. Without the leather get-up and mask, she wouldn’t know how to react at all.

   She wondered if they would go on dates.

   To the movies, to restaurants, lazy days at one of their houses just playing videogames and talking about their civilian lives.

   Marinette’s heart sang, and she smiled to herself as she stepped into the school building, pulling her phone from her ear and pushing it neatly into her bag. Tikki slipped quietly into Marinette’s purse – their usual routine for school mornings, and she would’ve searched for Alya in the gymnasium if she weren’t so distracted by the sigh of her classmates sitting casually outside the school building.

   “Hey,” Marinette greeted, her smile pleasant as she approached Alix and Kim. “What’s everyone doing out here?”

   The two exchanged glances, and as she propped her elbows on her knees, Alix asked, “You’re a bit of a daydreamer, aren’t you, Marinette?”

   She paused for a short beat. “Huh?”

   “Marinette!” An arm slapped against her shoulders and Marinette let out a small wheeze. “You’re cutting it tight, Girl,” Alya teased, and she must’ve seen the look of utter confusion on Marinette’s face because she deadpanned and asked, “Please tell me you didn’t forget.”

   Chances were that she did forget.

   “Oh, no,” Marinette murmured. “What did I forget?”

   Alya lifted her arm from Marinette’s shoulders, and she grabbed her by the upper arms as she demanded, “Marinette, _please_ tell me you didn’t forget. Our school excursion is today.”

   “School… Excursion?”

   “To the Museum of Modern Art. Marinette, you handed in the form right?”

   “Oh, no,” Marinette murmured for the second time that day. “My parents haven’t even signed the form, Alya. What do I do?”

   “Marinette,” Alya groaned, her fingertips digging beneath the frames of her glasses to dig into her eyeballs. “You’ll probably have to sit in with another class or something. What are you always doing that makes you forget stuff like this?”

   Saving Paris. Fighting Akuma. Kissing Chat Noir. Nothing _too_ major.

   “I’m sorry,” Marinette sighed, and she dropped her head in shame.

    “There may be good news amongst all this suckiness,” Alya suggested, and when Marinette looked up, her best friend was smiling smugly. “Looks like you’re not the only one who forgot to sign the approval form.”

    Over her shoulder, Nino was having much of the same conversation with a distressed looking Adrien.

   “Adrien couldn’t get his form signed, either?” Marinette guessed out loud.

   “It seems like fate’s paying you back for your misfortune. You’ll get to spend the day with Adrien.”

   Surprisingly, Marinette wasn’t as overjoyed as she’d imaged she might have been. It wasn’t too long ago that she would have ecstatic about the whole ordeal, and sure, Marinette _liked_ Adrien. She thought that he was considerate and thoughtful – plus he was drop dead gorgeous – but there was something that had changed over the past few months. He was a heartthrob, he always would be, but he didn’t excite her as much anymore.

   Not like Chat Noir.

   Marinette wondered if she should ditch school altogether and hang around as Ladybug until her partner showed up. No, that was probably a bad idea. Tikki wouldn’t be happy about it, and besides, she supposed that she really did need as much help with schoolwork as she could get.

   “Nino!” Alya called out, and she waved the two boys over with a quick flick of her fingers. “Wonder Boy can’t make the trip, huh?” She asked, and when Adrien shot her a sheepish smile, she continued, “Don’t worry. Marinette can’t go either.”

   “Marinette?” Adrien repeated, and unless it was some sort of trick of the light, Marinette could have sworn that the apples of his cheeks reddened.

   “She forgot all about it,” Alya explained to him was a not so gentle pat between Marinette’s shoulder blades. “Can you keep her company for me today?”

   “ _Alya_ ,” Marinette mumbled quietly at the exact same time Adrien exclaimed loudly, “Of course!”

   The sudden outburst was surprising enough to render Marinette, Alya, and Nino speechless. Adrien was usually so reserved, and to be flustered over Marinette? – Something about it seemed off.

   “That’s great!” Alya remarked, her enthusiasm just as high as Adrien’s had been, and she looped her arm though Nino’s as she shot the two a sickly sweet smile. “Well, we better be off. Art to see and make fun of. Have fun, you two.”

   She strolled along quickly, towing Nino closely behind her, and all Marinette could think about was how to break it to Alya later that she wasn’t head over heels in love with Adrien Agreste anymore. There would be questions, and a simple excuse such as ‘crushes are temporary’ would not cut it.

   “Have you been busy lately?” Adrien asked.

   Marinette blinked twice before replying, “Huh?”

   “Alya said that you forgot to get your approval form signed,” he elaborated, and he rubbed his palm sheepishly over the nape of his neck. “Did you have a lot on your mind?”

   “Oh,” Marinette said, and then again, “ _Oh_ , well. Yeah, I guess I do have some things going on in my personal life. It – It’s fine, though! They’re good things.”

   “Good things?” Adrien repeated, and his head cocked slightly as he asked innocently, “What sort of good things?”

   Marinette’s cheeks flushed red, and Adrien watched her with raised eyebrows and a perfectly sweet smile – _too_ sweet, it seemed. It almost seemed like he could read her not-so innocent thoughts about her leather-clad partner. She didn’t think she was transparent – keeping a secret as big as living a double life as the super heroine Ladybug effectively turned one into a pretty reliable liar, but there was the tiniest glimmer of a twinkle in Adrien’s eye that made Marinette wonder if he knew the source behind her flushed skin and flustered behaviour. She hadn’t told him anything about it; although, she did remember talking to Adrien a while back about how _something_ had interrupted her _plan_ – and technically, that had been about Chat Noir interrupting her plan to end up as Miss Adrien Agreste. It seemed childish now that she thought about it. In all honesty, she didn’t know Adrien that well at all.

   “Just… Good things,” Marinette finally answered, and she shrugged her shoulders as her fingers tightened around her purse strap. “We better go inside and see Principal Damocles. We’ll probably have to sit in with other classes.”

   “Right,” Adrien agreed slowly, but he seemed preoccupied and distracted, and even when Marinette started towards the school’s front doors, he remained fixed where he stood. “Or we could… Not?”

   Marinette stopped, and she felt Tikki begin to kick her from inside the purse. “What do you mean?”

   “Well, there’s probably no teaching plan for today and we’ll be working off print outs,” Adrien explained casually, and Marinette folded her arms over her chest. “We won’t be learning anything we don’t already know. So maybe we should… Not go today?”

   “Ditch school?” Marinette emphasised with a raised brow. It seemed out of character for Adrien Agreste to suggest skipping school for the day, and if she’d told the old Marinette – the Marinette who’d been crazy over Adrien – that he’d wanted to ditch school with her, she would have never believed it in a million years. It just wasn’t like him; it was reckless and irresponsible, and Adrien was far from either of those things.

   “I don’t think it’s a good idea,” Marinette murmured. “We’ll get in trouble.”

   The sudden motionlessness in Marinette’s purse suggested that Tikki agreed with her. It was somewhat perplexing – the golden wonder boy Adrien Agreste suddenly wanting to rebel against the rules. As far as Marinette knew, he’d always been a good student and had always played by the rules. So what had changed? Did he no longer care that by breaking the rules, he could risk sullying the Agreste image?

   Alya had said something like that a while back. Nino had mentioned it to her – Adrien was always weary of what he did because it would _always_ reflect back on his Father and his Father’s business.

   “Are you worried about getting in a little trouble?” Adrien teased, and Marinette felt something twist deep in the pit of her stomach because she knew – she knew that attitude from somewhere. She hadn’t heard it from Adrien before, but someone else. Who? Who did it remind her of?

   “No,” Marinette defended, and she crossed her arms stubbornly over her chest. “I just didn’t think that you would be the type to skip school.”

   “Since it’s a field trip day, technically, we don’t actually have school.”

   The banter, the snark – where did it come from? More importantly, who the _hell_ did it remind her of?

   “Well… Okay,” Marinette began slowly, and she felt Tikki begin to kick her from inside the couch again. She’d get an earful later, that’s for sure. “But only because it’s not a proper school day.”

   “Right,” Adrien agreed.

   And she hadn’t ever thought it would be possible, but for the first time in her life, Marinette Dupain-Cheng skipped class and left the school building alongside Adrien Agreste.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ok first of all, I am so so sorry for such a long wait (and especially to come back to this lmao)   
> in all honesty, I've been fairly busy at work and now I've started university again, so please understand that updates will have to take longer to get out now. (i'll try not to take this long though) 
> 
> anyways, I hope this chapter is ok. I'm just trying to build up to more sin and the next reveal, ayeee ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)  
> thank you for reading !!
> 
> p.s. I wrote the majority of this chapter with my kitten playing on my keyboard so I apologise for any typos or whatever that I was too lazy to go back and fix


	16. Chapter 16

It was still a hard-to-grasp concept for Adrien.

            Sure. Ladybug _had_ brought it up and told him flat out that beneath the polka-dotted mask, she was none other than Marinette Dupain-Cheng. But even as he sat across from her, watching her silently as she contently lapped at the ice-cream cone in her hand, he still found it hard to believe that this was _His_ Lady.

            Not that Adrien didn’t like Marinette – he did. Although she was usually quiet and shy around him, she was polite and sweet, and Adrien might’ve actually developed feelings for her if it weren’t for Ladybug… Which, in the end, just so happened to be Marinette anyway. Ever since she’d told him, he’d been picturing Marinette beneath the mask; when they’d been fighting akuma, when they’d been hanging out on patrol, and when they’d ducked away to more _reclusive_ spaces. Now he found it hard – hard to act natural around Marinette, like she wasn’t the epic love of his life. He wanted to reveal his identity to her too, but he wasn’t as brave as Ladybug… Marinette? He had doubts of his own, things that he could only ever go to Plagg about. Adrien Agreste was so different to Chat Noir, would Marinette still want to be with him? Adrien Agreste and Marinette Dupain-Cheng didn’t even _know_ each other that well, and it was safe to say that for their first few meetings, Marinette didn’t even like him at all.

            “Hey, Marinette,” Adrien asked slowly, and she hummed low in her throat as she licked at the sticky ice cream that coated her fingertips. He swallowed and looked away. “We’re friends, right?”

            She blinked and looked at him, bright blue eyes wide with surprise. “Um–”

            “I guess we didn’t really get off to a good start, so–”

            “No!” Marinette blurted, and she jolted upright so suddenly that her ice cream almost slipped off its cone. “I know that was a misunderstanding. I’m sorry I didn’t believe you back then. It just didn’t… I mean – it didn’t exactly look good to the unknowing eye. And you were new and friends with Chloe, and she was always messing with me so I thought–”

            “But we don’t talk much,” Adrien stated, and when he saw the upset pout on Marinette’s lips, he was more than tempted to pepper sweet kisses all over her face. “Up until a few weeks ago, it kind of seemed like you avoided me.”

            Marinette caught her bottom lip between her teeth, and she stared down at her ice cream for a few solid beats before she told him, “I wasn’t avoiding you. Not intentionally. I didn’t mean to make you feel like I didn’t like you or anything like that.”

            It felt good to hear that. Adrien might’ve been content to let it go at that, knowing that Marinette didn’t dislike his civilian-self, but technically this was his girlfriend. He wanted to know _exactly_ what she thought of him, and bringing it up as Chat Noir would be too suspicious.

            “Was it because I hung around with Chloe?”

            Marinette shook her head. Adrien immediately wanted to slam his face into a brick wall. He knew that wasn’t the answer – Marinette, _His_ Lady, wasn’t that conceited. “If I tell you,” she began. “Promise that you won’t make fun of me?”

            He wouldn’t make fun of her as Adrien, but if he could somehow tease her about it as Chat Noir, then he’d be all for it.

            “I paw –” He quickly cut himself off and resaid, “I promise.”

            He’d almost said ‘I _paw_ -mise.’ Somehow, Adrien didn’t think that would have gone down so smoothly.

            “Alright, well…” Her eyes were back at her ice cream again, glued to the gloop of vanilla as if she were genuinely entranced. “To be entirely honest, I used to have a little crush on you.”

            Adrien’s eyebrows furrowed, but only because his brain hurt.

            “You… Had a crush on _me?_ ”

             “It’s not _that_ hard to believe!” Marinette exclaimed, and when she pouted again, it sent Adrien’s stomach into flips. “So I wasn’t avoiding you, I was just nervous around you.”

             Chat Noir was in love with Ladybug, who was also Marinette Dupain-Cheng, who had a crush on Adrien Agreste. To make things short, Adrien had _literally_ been his own love rival. He didn’t know what to say – what could he say? He didn’t know how to act natural anymore, or say anything without straight out admitting _‘hey, I’m Chat Noir_.’ In all honesty, he just wanted to hug her and kiss her, and talk about the things that were happening in her life, but he couldn’t; couldn’t because Chat Noir could do those things, because Chat Noir knew what happened in her life because Ladybug _told_ him. He couldn’t do those things, at least not now, because he was Adrien Agreste.

            “Y-You don’t have to worry!” Marinette suddenly blurted, and he realised that he’d been sitting silently for some time. She must’ve thought that her confession had made him uncomfortable.

_I’m sorry, Marinette. Just give me a little more time to tell you who I am._

             “I’m flattered –” Adrien began to say.

             “You don’t have to reject me, Adrien, really!” She rushed to tell him, her cheeks flushed and her smile kind. “It felt really good to finally admit that to you, but I’m actually with someone else now.”

              Adrien felt a sudden guilt welling inside him.

              “You are?” He asked, and he wondered if Plagg was eavesdropping that very second. He’d give him hell for it later – for deceiving Marinette and tricking her into talking to Adrien about… Well, _himself_.

               “Yes! Wait, no! I’m not – He’s not –” Her eyes widened, her lips pressed into a small ‘o’-like shape, and Adrien had to hold his index finger to his mouth to obscure the small smile that was weaselling its way onto his face. “Please don’t tell Alya.”

               “Alya?” Adrien repeated, and he knew – _knew_ with every fibre of his being that when he finally did confess to his true identity, he’d be in deep water. “Why wouldn’t you tell your best friend that you’re seeing someone? He isn’t dangerous, is he?”

             “Dangerous?” Marinette threw back her head and laughed, and Adrien felt the tiniest bit offended. “No, no! He’s harmless. Well, he’s mostly harmless, but if anyone found out, it would cause a lot of trouble for both of us.”

              Adrien nodded slowly. “I won’t tell. Your secret is safe with me.” She looked like she wanted to say something, but she smiled and hurried to lick the sticky ice cream running down her fingers. “What’s he like?”

             “He’s a dork,” Marinette admitted after licking a stripe up her ice cream, and she smiled to herself as she continued, “He makes a lot of jokes and puns, and I pretend that they’re really stupid, but I actually like them. We used to be the same height, but he’s a lot taller than me now and I don’t know if he’s realised that.”

             He has now.

             Marinette paused to take another two licks, and she licked her lips before adding, “I think that he likes to think he’s some mysterious, dangerous playboy, and I used to think that too, but he’s very thoughtful and kind. I don’t think that he’s been in a relationship before, either.” Another lick. “I’m worried about him.”

             “Worried?” Adrien asked a little too quickly, and if Marinette noticed, she didn’t pick him up for it.

             “I think that he has stuff going on at home,” Marinette said quietly, and apparently having lost her appetite, she chucked what was of her ice cream cone in the bin beside them. “I think that he might be lonely, and that he doesn’t really get much love at home. He’s only talked about his dad before, but the impression I got of him wasn’t good. I don’t think they’re on good terms.”

              His tongue felt thick and dry. He should stop. It wasn’t right that he was prying into Marinette’s thoughts like this. If she wanted Chat Noir to know how she felt, she would have said something. Regardless, Adrien asked, “What makes you say that?”

              “His dad is unfair,” Marinette stated, and her fingers knotted together in her lap. “I don’t know much, but I think he’s controlling and selfish. His dad put him on this diet, and I don’t want to say anything because I might upset him, but I think his wrists are just as thin as mine.”

               It took all of Adrien’s willpower not to glance down at his hands, and he folded his arms as discreetly as possible.

            “I try to sneak him food whenever I see him. A diet so restricting isn’t good for any teenager, but he has… Very demanding work, and I get worried that he’ll run out of energy or lose strength.” Marinette glanced over at him, and he must have been showing _some_ tell tale sign that he was distressed because she rushed to say, “Not that he’s not healthy! He’s very fit and I know for a fact that he’s got a fair amount of muscle on his bones. I just worry about him so much. I’m sorry Adrien, I didn’t mean to ramble.”

             God. He loved her. Loved her. Loved her. Loved her so _damn_ much. He wanted to hug her, _needed_ to hug her, never let her go.

             “He’s lucky to have you,” Adrien murmured quietly, and when Marinette frowned and leaned closer to better hear him, he looked away to keep himself from staring at her lips. “He’d be so grateful to know how much you care about him.”

             Marinette smiled. “It’s what he deserves. He’s always looking out for everyone, not just me.” She wet her bottom lip, and Adrien wondered if he’d be able to taste the vanilla ice cream if he kissed her. “He’s been through a lot. I just want him to know how much I love him.”

             His heart skipped a beat. “You love him?”

             “I’ve always loved him,” she said coolly, as if she were answering an interviewer’s question as Ladybug. “I think he knows that without me saying anything. But I’m _in_ love with him, and I think that’s a little different to just loving someone.”

              “In… Love?” Adrien almost choked out the words, and he shot to his feet instantly. Marinette stared up at him with wide eyes from where she sat on the park bench, and all Adrien knew was that he had to get the _hell_ out of there.

                In love. In love. Marinette was in love with Chat Noir. Ladybug was in love with Chat Noir. In love. _In_ love.

                “Adrien?” Marinette asked, and the sweet innocence of her voice could have knocked him dead. “Are you alright?”

                 “Sorry. I just remembered that I wasn’t supposed to go to school today.”

_Calm down. You’re blurting out the first thing that comes to your head._

                 He thought he could hear Plagg snickering from inside his jacket pocket.

                 Marinette blinked, and she brushed off her skirt as she stood. It was black and knee length, and she wore stockings underneath – Adrien suddenly had the very vibrant image of slowly rolling the stockings down her thighs.

                “I didn’t get the form signed for the excursion because I had things to do today,” Adrien lied, and he wanted to hit himself over and over.

                “Are you sure?” Marinette asked. “I didn’t think Mr Agreste would let you take days off school for things like that.”

                  “It’s for modelling,” he rushed to say, and Marinette nodded as if the lie was convincing. “Sorry, Marinette.”

                 “T-That’s okay,” she said, and he heard her call, “Thank you for listening, Adrien,” but he was already well out of the park and sprinting for the nearest secluded location, because his Princess was alone and _in love_ with him, and he’d be damned, but he would _not_ let this opportunity go to waste.

                  “Where’re we going?” Plagg snickered as he poked his head out the collar of Adrien’s shirt. “Eh, Speedy Gonzales?”

                  “Bicker as much as you want when we get home.” Adrien ducked in-between a street sign and a rubbish bin, checking his surroundings twice before demanding, “Plagg, transform me!”

                   “But –” Whatever he had to say trailed off as the kwami became one with the miraculous, and as soon as the transformation was complete, Chat Noir was leaping off the ground and scrambling up the street sign to get a visual on His Lady. She’d moved from the park bench where they’d been sitting only moments ago, and was already walking back towards the school building. Chat shook his head as he chuckled to himself.

                   So she’d only ditched school for Adrien, after all.

                   He launched after her, leaping from lamppost to lamppost, and Marinette had glanced up a fraction of a second before he dropped down in front of her.

                   “ _Purr_ incess,” Chat Noir purred, and he might’ve taken her hand if she hadn’t instantly crossed her arms over her chest. “Didn’t class start over an hour ago? You’re running a little late, book _bug_.”

                     “I could say the same thing for you, Chaton,” Marinette countered, but if the blush on her cheeks was anything to go by, she was more than pleased to see him. His fingers reached for her skirt – God, he wanted to pull her close and never let go – but Marinette took a large step back. “Are you forgetting that I’m not Ladybug?”

                     “Hm?” Chat hummed. “Ladybug?”

                     “Your _girlfriend_.”

                    Chat Noir shot her a wicked grin, and he watched as Marinette took a deep breath in through her parted lips. “Of course. My beloved girlfriend, Ladybug. Although if I’m correct, the public _does_ think our relationship is over.”

                     “Don’t care,” Marinette said, and she swiftly moved out of reach when he reached for her again. “Chat Noir and Ladybug will be public before you know it, and you are _not_ cheating on her with Marinette.”

                    “Then… We could go to your house?” Chat suggested quietly. “Are your parents home?”

                     “They’ll be working in the bakery downstairs,” she told him, and she unfolded her arms to press one palm lightly against the purse at her side. “Go up the balcony and let yourself in. I’ll meet you there.”

                    He offered her a dramatic bow. “As you wish, Princess.”

                     She pointed her index finger, an eyebrow cocked as she demanded, “Don’t you _dare_ be seen by anyone, Chat.”

 

* * *

 

Marinette had only kept Chat Noir waiting for five minutes before she climbed into her bedroom and closed the trapdoor behind her.

            “Princess!” Chat exclaimed, and he shot up from where he’d been sitting on her chaise lounge. “What a pleasant surprise. What brings you here?”

            “This is my house, Chat Noir,” Marinette sighed, and she dumped her schoolbag on the floor. Chat couldn’t help but feel the slightest bit guilty; he’d only asked Marinette to skip school with him so she could get to know _Adrien_ better, but he’d ended up switching the plan at the last minute.

            “I was daydreaming today,” Chat Noir told her coolly, and he rested his elbows on his knees, gloved hands tucked beneath his chin. “About you.”

            “Oh, _really_?” Marinette asked as she turned to face him, her long skirt swirling around her knees as she moved. She threw her hands on her hips, and Chat Noir still found it hard to believe that _this_ was _his_ Ladybug; that he _finally_ knew her identity; that he was _inside_ her bedroom.

            “Well, Princess. _Marinette_ ,” he began, and he grinned wickedly wide when she blushed at the mention of her name. “I was minding my own business when I just happened to see you walking by, wearing that pretty little skirt and stockings combination.” Her eyebrows furrowed and her pink lips scrunched up into a pout, but her face was flushed bright pink and her fingers picked at the material of her black skirt. “So, I got to thinking: ‘what if I rolled those stockings down her thighs?’”

            “C-Chat!” Marinette stuttered loudly.

            “Yes, Ladybug?” Chat Noir stood, eyes on hers as he slowly stalked towards her. Her lips were parted, her eyes wide, and as soon as he had reached her, her fingers instantly curled around his leather belt. What Marinette had told Adrien earlier was true – he _had_ grown, and had to look down at her now. She wouldn’t meet his eyes, instead they were fixed on his neck, and Chat pulled her into a hug. “Sorry, Marinette,” he murmured, and he pressed a soft kiss to the top of her head. “I didn’t mean to tease you.”

            “Yes you did,” Marinette mumbled. “Nothing you say is innocent.”

            “Me- _ouch_. Is that what you really think?”

            “Yes.” She lifted her chin to look up at him, and a smile spread over Chat’s lips as he pressed his forehead against hers. For the rest of his life, he would be more than happy to hold Marinette in a never-ending embrace. He felt her fingers trailing along his arms, leaving feather-light touches, until they finally stopped over his gloved hands. She was quiet as she moved his hands beneath her own, guiding them over her hips, down her thighs, and she freed one of his hands so she could gather the material of her skirt. “It’s okay. I don’t really feel like being innocent.”

            “M– _Marinette_?”

            Marinette soundlessly dragged his hand underneath her skirt, and he heard her breath hitch when she guided him back up her thigh. His clawed fingertips hooked around the band of her stockings, and as he slowly dragged the pantyhose down, Marinette peppered kisses along the soft skin of his throat.

            “No hickeys, remember?” Chat Noir told her, and the unevenness of his breath leaked into his voice. His three middle fingers had dipped behind the band of her right stocking, his thumb skimming the edges of Marinette’s underwear, and he wished more than anything that he could take the _damn_ gloves off.

            Marinette hummed in recognition, but she was too busy kicking her shoes to the side of the room so Chat could tug the stockings off her legs. She grew impatient by the time he’d pushed them down to her knees, and she tried pulling them off herself, but they must’ve caught around her ankles because she tripped and stumbled backwards, her tight grip around Chat Noir’s belt pulling him down along with her.

            “Marinette!” He exclaimed once they’d hit the floor, and he pushed himself onto his knees to shift as much of his weight off her as possible, but Marinette’s fingers had woven into his hair, her fingernails scraping against his scalp, and her mouth found his with crushing force. His upper lip throbbed – it must have been knocked between their teeth, but Chat Noir didn’t mind. His hands were on her thighs, her skirt bunched at her hips, and he could feel her knees tightened against his waist.

            He wondered if the feeling of utmost bliss would ever go away.

            And if it ever did, he could only imagine that somehow – he wasn’t sure how but _somehow_ – that it could only get better.

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ヽ(๏∀๏ )ﾉ hi! thanks for reading, and for all the kudos and comments ~~  
> hope you continue to enjoy !!


	17. Chapter 17

He’d had his hands up her skirt and his lips on her collarbone when Marinette whimpered out a quiet, “Chat, wait.”

            Chat Noir’s palms froze against her waist, his clawed fingertips tickling the band of her underwear – dark green, by the way, which Chat found strangely charming – and he’d stopped for a whole five seconds before he finally flung his hands as far away from her body as possible. “Too far?” He guessed. “Do you want to stop?”

            Marinette shook her head as she pulled herself into a sitting position, her knees bent beside both sides of Chat’s hips. “No, the opposite really. I just want to make it clear what I want.”

            Chat licked his lips, still tingly and numb from Marinette’s kisses. “Okay, yeah. Tell me.”

            “More,” she answered instantly, and before Chat even had the time to feel confused, she prodded on, “This is going to sound selfish. Selfish because I told you who I was on my own terms without even taking into consideration how you felt, but I want to know who you are. I do, because I want more. I want more than what we have, Chat. I want to go on dates, to the movies or cafes, and I want to show you off to my friends, and bring you around for dinner. I want sleepovers where my parents will force us to sleep in the living room in separate sleeping bags because they don’t trust their teenage daughter and her boyfriend not to get up to anything stupid.”

            She’d threaded her fingers through his, and Chat hadn’t even noticed until she’d started to thumb smooth circles through the leather of his glove. He wanted to tell her that he shared her desires, that he wanted the exact same, but he couldn’t find the will to move his mouth. After everything, it was Marinette who wanted more; who spoke up about what they could have together.

            “I want stupid study dates, where we don’t actually get any studying done at all and I’ll blame it on you but I really don’t mind.” Marinette smiled, and she shifted onto her knees, and Chat Noir held his breath as her lips hovered just above his own, and he felt his heart cry because he loved her; he loved her so damn much. “I want to hold your hand when we’re together, and I want to know as much about you as I can possibly can. We can go on double dates with Alya and Nino, and I know that you’ll be stupid and make stupid puns, but they’ll love you, and I love you, and – God, Chat. I’m so in love with you, and I want – I want –” Whatever she was going to say, Chat didn’t know because she’d started to cry, the fleshy heel of her palms digging into her eyes.

            “Marinette, shh, it’s alright,” Chat Noir whispered, his lips pressing soft kisses to the top of her head as he pulled her in tight, his arms folding around her. He could feel Marinette’s body trembling against his, desperate as she tried to hold back her sobs, and Chat could only run his fingers through her hair and hold her. “What’s going on? Why are you crying, Bugaboo?”

            “I don’t –” She broke into hiccupping breaths, and he felt her fingers grasping at the leather of his suit as she buried her face into his chest. “I don’t know.”

            It was the first time he’d ever seen her cry, as Marinette and Ladybug, and Chat Noir wasn’t sure what to do. He’d never dealt with this before, had never been close enough with someone to have gone through it before.

            “You’ve got to have an idea, don’t you?” Chat asked her gently, afraid that pushing the topic even the slightest bit further would set her off.

            “I want you to be happy,” Marinette told him, and she lifted her head from Chat Noir’s chest to meet his eyes. Hers were wet and red, the skin beneath them tearstained and blotchy, and Chat carefully wiped at the tears with his index finger.

            “I am happy.”

            “Are you?”

            He knew that she was referring to his home life. He’d mentioned one teeny tiny detail about his father placing him on a diet, and judging by what Marinette had told Adrien earlier in the day, it’d been bugging her ever since. He shouldn’t have mentioned it to her; should’ve kept his mouth shut about anything involving his home life for this exact reason.

            Marinette was smart. It didn’t take much for her to fit puzzle pieces together. He was happy, really. He had good friends, an amazing girlfriend, but ultimately it all came back down to Adrien Agreste, all alone in a big, cold mansion.

            “Marinette,” Chat sighed, clearing hair from her wet face. “You’re the one crying, not me.”

            “Chat Noir,” Marinette whispered quietly, and her thumbs traced the border of his black mask. “Please be honest. Are you lonely?”

            He looked away from her when he answered her, his voice thick and unconvincing, “What are you talking about? I’m Chat Noir; Paris’s superhero.”

            “Are you lonely at home?”

            _Yes._

            “No,” he lied.

            “You told me that you’re on a diet because your father put you on one,” Marinette said, and she could feel her thumbs slowly tracing his jawline.

            “It’s nothing, Marinette. You don’t have to worry about –”

            “But I do worry!” Marinette blurted out, and Chat Noir felt guilt well in his chest. Had this been his fault? Had he spurred this on by talking about it with her as Adrien? Was it his fault that she’d cried? “Ever since you told me I’ve been worried about it. What sort of parents would put their son on such a constricting diet? It could get dangerous, Chat Noir. And knowing about that, I can’t help but wonder what else you’re going through by yourself. You can talk to me, Chat.”

            He could, but he hadn’t wanted to. Hadn’t wanted to drag her, or anyone else for that matter, into what he scraped up as his family. He wanted to be happy, and he was most happy when his home life and his father stayed _out_ of it.

            “ _Parent_ ,” Chat Noir corrected, and when Marinette’s eyes widened in shock, he smiled gently at her. “Just one parent, but it’s alright. You don’t have to worry about me. Really, it’s just the whole diet thing that –”

            “I think that you’re not really close with your dad,” Marinette interrupted quietly, and just hearing it out loud felt like a slap to the face. “Am I right?”

            Chat Noir had been staring down at her skirt when he nodded.

            “So you are lonely then. It’s just you and your dad, and –”

            “I’m okay,” Chat told her, and when he met her eyes, he tried to smile as genuinely as possible, because really, he was fine. He had her; he was fine. “Marinette, really, I am okay. You just –” He cut himself off with his own laughter, and when he leant back, Marinette climbed into his lap. “How did you manage to dig this deep into my personal life with your only information being about my diet?”

            Marinette pouted, and Chat tugged at her bottom lip twice with the claws of his thumb and index finger. “I am the super heroine, Ladybug. You haven’t forgotten, have you?”

            “How could I possibly forget?”

            Her forehead pressed into his, and although her eyes were closed, Chat Noir’s were wide open. _Sorry Marinette, I’m sorry. I’ll tell you who I am – just a little more time._

            “Chat. Spend the night with me,” she whispered, so faint that he had almost missed it.

            He stirred, and when he pulled away, Marinette’s blue eyes flew open, gradually thinning teardrops lacing her thick eyelashes. “It’s barely lunchtime.”

            “Then stay with me for the morning,” Marinette said, and she swiped away moisture from beneath her eyes with the palms of her hands. “Then the afternoon, and then the night.”

            Chat Noir shook his head, because it was irrational. There were too many complications: her parents, his father, and his transformation wouldn’t last forever, but he found himself kissing the space between her eyebrows and murmuring, “As you wish, Princess.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> uni is killing me, and so are these two (i'm sorry for taking so long wah)
> 
> but surprise!! – this is one of those fics where instead of marinette being all angsty and scared about a reveal, it’s actually adrien lmao.
> 
> no in all honesty though, I can see adrien as not really having anything outside of his friends, which can lead to isolation in his home life, which can lead to feelings of depression (which I think ladybug/marinette would pick up in a heart beat). this is just my interpretation though, so if you don’t agree that’s cool and just consider it for the sake of the drama ~~  
> also squee, sleepover : )))


	18. Chapter 18

Somehow, she had been surprised to find out that Chat Noir preferred cartoons to live-action movies.

According to him, they weren’t appreciated enough, and they told some of the best stories that he’d ever heard. Apparently Chat Noir was particularly fond of Disney movies – Marinette wasn’t sure why exactly. After she had suggested watching a movie, he instantly asked,

“Do you have any Disney films?”

“Disney films?” Marinette repeated, and she scoffed as she hooked her little finger around his and lead him towards her desk. She kept the DVD’s in a rose-printed box below the desk, mostly untouched since the birth of online movies, and she dragged it out for Chat to see. “Take your pick. I’ve got all of them.”

“All of them?” He challenged, and his eyebrow hitched up beneath the black of his leather mask. He crouched, and Marinette watched as he rifled through the collection with his slender fingers.

“Well,” Marinette murmured after a beat. “Most of them.”

He plucked out a DVD case as he said, “This one,” and he held it up for Marinette to take. Chat’s grin was innocent and sweet, and Marinette couldn’t help the way her lips twitched into a smile.

“You’re a dork,” she told him as she snatched her laptop from the desk, and she made her towards the loft.

“It’s a good movie!” Chat Noir defended, and Marinette felt his arms snake around her waist, holding her close to him. His lips ghosted over the skin of her neck, feather-light as if his mouth weren’t even there, and Marinette shivered when he pressed a lingering close right beneath the base of her ear.

“Chat,” Marinette warned slowly, but she _loved_ the attention he was giving her, and the touch of his lips was invigorating.

“Princess,” he hummed against her, the vibrations sending shivers throughout her body, and Marinette’s head lolled back onto his shoulder as he sucked the sensitive flesh.

“Didn’t we say no hickeys?” She teased, but he pinched her skin between his teeth just as she’d said it, and Marinette let out a high-pitched squeak, her hands tightening around the laptop.

“No hickeys for me,” Chat Noir clarified, his tongue dragging across the area he’d just bitten, and he let Marinette guide his hands further south. “For you? That’s another story.”

“That’s unfair,” Marinette complained, but her left hand had squeezed in between Chat’s front and her back so she could unzip her skirt. It fell down her legs and pooled at her feet, and Marinette noticed that her breath had become erratic as she guided Chat’s hand between her legs.

“Guess I’ll have to make it up to you,” he breathed into her ear, his own breath growing uneven as his fingers pressed up against Marinette’s underwear. He could feel the warmth of her, even through the leather gloves, and god – what he wouldn’t do to take the damn suit off to feel her. “Like this?” He asked her, his fingers rubbing circles into that particular sweet place Marinette had once shown him before.

“Mm-Hm,” she murmured, but she bent over in the next instant to slide the laptop and DVD case onto the floor – Chat momentarily enjoyed the feel of her ass against his hip – and turned back to face him, lips parted as she hastily pulled her shirt off.

“What are you doing?” Chat Noir asked, his voice hitching, because there was Marinette Dupain-Cheng, dressed only in tanga-style panties (rapidly dampening, Chat noted), and a white bra, and fair enough, Ladybug scampered around Paris in a skin-tight suit, but seeing so little clothes and so much skin was an entirely new thing for Chat – especially in this situation.

“What’s the matter, kitty?” Marinette teased, but the tips of her cheeks were pink, and Chat found that absolutely charming. “Cat got your tongue?”

“Oh,” Chat breathed, and he had intended to sound calm and cool, but it came out more of a breathy whine. “Now you’re making puns?” He was trying so hard to think coherently, but all he could focus on was Marinette’s skin and how it must feel so silky smooth against his lips. “Sorry, Marinette, but I’ve really just got to –” And his mouth descended right above the hem of her bra, his lips kissing every inch of her exposed breasts, but never daring to stray beneath the little fabric there. He felt her mouth kissing the top of his head, and he was blissed out on lust and love.

Heaven, heaven, heaven – God, this _had_ to be heaven.

Marinette’s breath seemed headier than it should’ve been, higher-pitched and pleasured, and when Chat glanced down, he found that her thighs were pressed together with her hand tucked between them.

“Oh, _fuck_ ,” Chat whispered hoarsely, and in the next instant, he dropped to his knees, spread her legs, and pressed a slow and wet kiss to Marinette’s damp underwear.

Marinette cried out, caught between gasping out his name and shouting out an intelligible cry, and her fingers knotted into his thick hair as he flattened his tongue and sucked through the wet cotton. “C–Ch–a–” She sputtered out, and her inability to pronounce words only spurred him on. He spread her legs further, to which Marinette willingly obliged, and his clawed fingertips dug into the soft flesh of her ass as his grip tightened. If wasn’t sure if he had drawn blood or if he was hurting her – the only verbal cues Marinette was giving him were moans of delight. He caught the wet material with the claw of his index finger, Chat’s eyes on her face as he pulled it to one side, and his tongue was ready and thirsty when they heard the abrupt knock at the trapdoor.

“Marinette?” A woman called up – Chat supposed it was Sabine, Marinette’s mother, and Marinette _threw_ Chat off like a rag doll.

“Hide in the bed!” Marinette hissed, and when he only blinked at her, dazed and confused at the sudden turn of events, she shoved him towards the loft, kicking her discarded clothes beneath the desk. “Yes, mum?”

Chat Noir felt his heart skip a beat, and he scrambled up the loft and under the bed sheets faster than he’d ever moved in his entire life.

The trapdoor squeaked slightly as it opened, and although Marinette’s heart was pounding erratically, she tried her best to stay calm as she casually plucked her pyjama top from the chaise lounge and pulled it on. “I just wanted to make sure you were alright. Are you feeling any better?”

“I think I’m just going to try and sleep,” Marinette said, and Chat Noir supposed that she’d told her parents she’d felt ill and come home from school early. “Thanks for checking on me, mum.”

“Well, just come get me if you need me. You know where I’ll be,” Sabine told her. Chat felt guilt well in his chest, because his arousal wasn’t going away anytime soon – if anything, almost getting caught in the act with Marinette by her own mother excited him even further.

_You’re a sick, boy, Adrien Agreste_ , he thought to himself.

Chat Noir heard the trapdoor shut, and he held his breath for several seconds as he felt someone climbing up the loft towards him.

“I’m so, _so_ sorry,” Marinette murmured, her face scarlet red, and now dressed in a tee shirt two sizes too big for her. “I told her that I wasn’t feeling well. Usually she doesn’t come up here if I feel sick.”

Chat relaxed as she clambered onto the bed, and she carefully placed the laptop and DVD case on the edge of the mattress. The breath he released was long and heavy, and he threw an arm over his face as he laughed.

“Shush!” Marinette whispered, her fingers pressing lightly over his lips, but she was grinning too, and she shook her head as she hid behind her hands. “Oh my god. Maybe we should just watch the movie.”

“Are you in the movie mood?” Chat Noir asked.

“Not really,” she admitted, and the look she shot him was enough to send his heartbeat into a frenzy all over again. “But maybe we should. Pace ourselves?”

The second-last thing Chat wanted to do was pace himself, but the last thing he wanted to do was force Marinette into doing something she didn’t want to. So, he nodded and scooted over so she could slide in beside him.

“Alright,” Marinette sighed. “So, Peter Pan?” She reached over for her laptop, but Chat Noir was too busy raking his gloved fingertips through his hair and trying to calm his poor heart. He was all sorts of messed up – he was overheated, erratic, and his suit was way too tight for him in particular lower regions. He was freaking out, freaking out, freaking the _hell_ out – this hadn’t ever happened to him before. He was all wiled up, unusually uncomfortable, and now he wasn’t sure what he was supposed to do. “Chat? Chat Noir?” Marinette had been saying his name, and he turned to her and blinked twice. “Chat, are you alright?”

“S-Sorry, Marinette,” he answered her finally, swallowing hard. “Do you think I could get some water?”

“Water?” She repeated, and then again, “Oh, water! Yes, of course. I’ll be back up in a moment.” Marinette had scrambled off the mattress, down the loft, and out of the room in a matter of seconds – he shouldn’t have expected any less from the super heroine Ladybug – and Chat released a pent up breath.

In a rushed breath, Chat said, “Plagg –”

The transformation dropped almost instantly, as if Plagg had been eagerly awaiting to jump out of the miraculous, and he instantly said, “I thought you told me you were gonna lay off – Hey, where are we?”

“Marinette’s room,” Adrien answered.

“Marinette’s room, eh?” Plagg echoed slowly. “What’re we doing in Marinette Dupain-Cheng’s room, Lover Boy?”

“ _We_ are not in Marinette’s room, Chat Noir is in Marinette’s room, so don’t get comfortable.”

“What are you doing?” Another voice cried, too feminine and high-pitched to belong to his kwami, and Adrien saw Plagg visibly gulp. A small, red – _thing_ rocketed from the very other end of the room to hover just above his nose, and Adrien almost yelped in surprise. “Are you going to tell Marinette who you are?”

“You’re –” Adrien began, but Plagg interrupted, “Tiki. Marinette’s kwami.”

“You’ve been here the whole time?” Adrien squeaked.

“Marinette will be back up here any minute, and she’s expecting to find Chat Noir, not Adrien Agreste!” Tiki chastised, her small arms crossing over her chest in a stubborn scowl.

“But I’m freaking out here!” Adrien exclaimed, wiping sweat from his forehead, and Plagg and Tiki shared concerned glances. “I’m dying in that stuffy suit, my head is spinning, and my heart won’t stop pounding. I don’t know what to do.”

“Listen, kid,” Plagg said calmly. “Deep breaths. You’re just experiencing this all for the first time, it’s normal. Usually, teens go through this at fourteen, fifteen…”

“I’m older than fourteen or fifteen, Plagg!”

“You’re experiencing things in hyper drive, is all,” Tiki explained to him calmly, a sweet smile on her lips. “It’s nothing to be afraid of, Adrien. You’ve never experienced this feeling with a person before, and you’re moving rather quickly with Marinette. Just breathe.”

He did as he was told: a deep breath in, and a deep breath out.

“What should I do? I’m not used to this stuff.”

“Just relax, kid,” Plagg told him, and Adrien shouldn’t have been so surprised at how genuine his kwami was being. He might be fussy and like to complain, but all in all, Adrien was Plagg’s chosen. “You’ll be fine. You’re just a little, ah – overstimulated.”

They heard footsteps from below, and Adrien threw the sheets off himself as if he were getting ready to bolt the premise. “Marinette’s coming,” he said out loud, and his gaze flickered between Tiki and Plagg. “Plagg –”

“You’re going to tell her one day, aren’t you?” Plagg stated, and he rolled his small shoulders into a shrug. “Why prolong it? You always said that you would tell her who you were if she wanted to know. What’s changed?”

What had changed? He could actually lose her, now.

“Plagg, claws out,” Adrien said through his teeth, and the black kwami melded into the miraculous stone without another word, sparking the transformation into Chat Noir.

Marinette’s kwami, Tiki stayed put, hovering in the space above his nose. She smiled politely, and with her sweet voice she said, “It was nice to finally meet you, Chat Noir.”

“And you…” He replied, but she’d already zipped to the other side of the room, as if she weren’t even there, and Chat Noir sighed as he rolled back onto his haunches. It was just past noon, so he’d been with Marinette for at least two or three hours, and he wasn’t entirely sure how long his transformation would last him.

_You’re going to tell her one day, aren’t you? Why prolong it?_

When Marinette climbed into the room through the trapdoor, she was juggling two cups of water and a plate of cookies, and she smiled brightly when Chat leaned over the side of the loft to take a peak. “I’m back!” She announced.

“Do you want a hand?” He asked, and his stomach flipped suddenly. She shook her head no, and had just reached the ladder to the loft when Chat said, “Hey, Marinette? There’s something that I want to talk about.”

She’d stopped to stare up at him, and with Chat up on the loft and Marinette down below, it was almost like a reversed Romeo and Juliet. Chat Noir’s stomach churned again, and his lips had parted just an inch when a large explosion resonated throughout the city. The building shuddered, and Chat and Marinette shared a fleeting glance before they scrambled towards the porthole.

The last thing Chat Noir heard before leaving the room was Marinette as she exclaimed, “Tiki, spots on!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> gah i'm sorry about the long waits for updates :((  
> but i hope you enjoyed reading this chapter, and thanks for the kudos and comments you're all awesome ~~


	19. Chapter 19

Ladybug touched ground first, her yoyo gripped tightly in her right hand as she followed the scream of fire truck sirens and the grey smoke that billowed in the air behind the buildings.

            Chat Noir was hot on her tail, and when she shot him a brief glance over her shoulder, his eyes were narrowed and his teeth gritted. A fire truck whirred by them, alarms blazing and lights flashing, and Ladybug felt unease coil in her stomach. Akumas hadn’t been sparse as of late, but it seemed that the bug and cat team’s first battle in a long time would be full throttle. She hoped that she wouldn’t be rusty – she hadn’t been doing much exercise in the past week or two.

            “Let’s try not to split up if we can,” Ladybug called over her shoulder to Chat, and she tightened her grip around her yoyo. “We work better when we’re together.”

            He was hesitant, but Chat Noir finally replied, “Right.”

            “What?” Ladybug questioned, and she shot him a second glance. “You don’t sound so sure about that.”

            “It’s just –” Chat stopped, and Ladybug stopped with him, eyebrows raised as she watched him reach behind his back for his baton. “I de-transformed in your room, and I didn’t get a chance to feed my kwami.”

            Ladybug blinked, jaw gaping, and for a brief moment, she tried to imagine Chat Noir without the mask and suit on her bed, until she snapped back to reality and exclaimed, “ _What?_ Does your kwami have enough energy to fight this akuma?”

            “We don’t have much of a choice,” Chat Noir told her.

            “Go recharge now,” Ladybug demanded, and when he didn’t budge, she pushed his shoulder. “Chat! Go –”

            A loud boom and the earth shuddered, and Ladybug almost lost her balance until she reached out and latched onto the nearest lamppost.

            “That can’t be good,” Chat Noir commented, and she would have made some sort of snappy remark if her eyes weren’t trailing the fireman heading straight for them. The fire fighter wore the usual beige jacket and trousers combo, an axe strapped to his waist and a hard hat on his head. Ladybug might’ve assumed he was completely normal – if he weren’t made entirely of steel and wielding some sort of cannon.

            “Found the akuma,” Ladybug stated.

            “So the fire fighter’s sided with the fire,” Chat said, twirling his baton smoothly on his palm. “Looks like he’s headed straight for us, LB.”

            “Let’s hang back for now,” she suggested as she shot a brief look over at her partner, her eyebrows furrowing as she thought. “We need to judge his strengths.”

            “He’s making the ground shake,” Chat pointed out. “I think we know his strengths.”

            She ignored him, her thoughts already stretched between Chat Noir’s already ticking transformation duration, and the steel villain charging angrily towards them. Ladybug wasn’t entirely sure how much time her partner had, and if he’d even have enough energy to use his cataclysm. The deal with their special powers was once daily, but since Chat had transformed twice in one day without feeding his kwami, she had no idea if that could impact his destructive powers. In conclusion, Ladybug decided that she’d have to be extra careful – her lucky charm would have to be their last resort.

            “Bugaboo?” Chat Noir called over to her, his voice slightly higher than usual. She supposed that he must have started to panic. “Our hero rapidly approaches.”

            The fireman took a shot at a nearby building with his cannon, and the city rumbled as a ball of fire collided with the wall and sent burnt bricks flying out into the street. “Could it be the cannon?” Ladybug asked. “Could the akuma be in the fireman’s weapon?”

            “It would be the most probable option,” Chat answered, and she felt his shoulder ride up against hers. “The trouble is getting it out of his hands. So, what’s the plan?”

            Ladybug could feel an oncoming headache, and her grip tightened around her yo-yo as she slowly nodded her head. “If I try and immobilise him, you try and get the cannon. Sound good –”

            A sharp beep cut her off, and her fingers immediately flung to her own earrings, as if she might be able to feel the amount of spots she had left. “It’s mine,” Chat told her suddenly, and when she looked across at him, he was missing a paw print on his ring. “Guess we better get this over with quick, huh?”

            “Chat!” She cried out, but he’d already taken off, moving in a quick sprint towards the akumatised villain. Ladybug took off after him, her heart in her chest as she watched her partner zigzag around the fireman’s powerful explosions. She readied her yo-yo, wrist moving rapidly as she focused on the akuma’s legs. If she could get the wire around his ankles, she’d be able to pull him to the ground and give Chat the chance to grab the cannon. She heard a second beep in the distance, and glanced up briefly to see Chat Noir vaulting over the fireman’s head, and she took it as an opportunity to dive in and capture his legs with her yo-yo.

            Ladybug circled him twice, and she rolled to her feet and gritted her teeth as she pulled on the wire. The fireman swayed, but he managed to stay upright, and Ladybug held her breath as she ducked a swinging, metal fist, and she dove forward once more to circle around his ankles another two times.

            “Chat!” She called out through gritted teeth, and she felt her upper arms begin to burn. It hadn’t occurred to her that this akuma was _literally_ made out of steel. Her fingers were beginning to ache, and she tugged tighter on her yo-yo. “Chat, get the cannon!”

            She heard a third beep as Chat Noir swooped down onto the fireman’s shoulder, and Ladybug let out a grunt as the akuma began firing shot after shot of burning stone. “I can’t – get it!” Chat grunted, and she looked up to see Chat trying to pry the cannon out of the akuma’s fist. “I think it’s attached to his arm.”

            “Okay,” Ladybug panted, and her hold on the wire began to lessen. “I’ll have to use lucky –”

            “Cataclysm!” Chat Noir cried, and she barely saw the flash of green light in the corner of her eye before she heard the sound of the cannon shattering into broken pieces. The fireman went slack, and Ladybug quickly retracted the wire of her yo-yo, her eyes now fixed to the purple butterfly fluttering away. She caught it quickly, her arms tender and sweat lacing her eyebrows, and she smiled to herself as she released her cleansing power and returned balance back to the city.

            A fireman sat on the floor, dazed and confused as he came back to consciousness – with _human_ skin, thankfully. But it was Ladybug, with her brain spinning and her eyes bugging that felt like she had lost all concept of reality. Because Chat Noir had disappeared, and instead, Adrien Agreste stood in his place.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi  
> ok first of all i am incredibly sorry for such the long wait, i've been enduring exam months at my university, but that's finally finished now! i'm quite sorry about this chapter, it's fairly short and not that good but i thought that after all this time i owed it to you all to get something out.
> 
> thank you so much for all of the kudos, and to everyone that has been commenting, i am so grateful.  
> i hope you liked this long-overdue update, and thank you for sticking around!


	20. Chapter 20

Chat Noir, or rather, Adrien Agreste made his hasty escape before Ladybug could even begin to start thinking. He had met her eyes for ten long seconds before he turned sharply on his heel and tore off in a sprint down a quiet alleyway. Ladybug might have followed him, but her feet seemed to be frozen to the ground.

            “Lady…Bug?” She heard the former akumatised villain murmur, confusion evident as he slowly blinked his eyes and rubbed his forearm. “What’s going on? What are you doing here?”

            Ladybug didn’t want to deal with the aftermath of the akuma attack. After all, she’d just witnessed her superhero boyfriend transform (or de-transform) into the high school heartthrob. Her head was spinning, her head dry, and her breaths were quick and shallow as she sunk to her knees. “Hello, what’s your name?”

            “It’s Daniel,” the fireman answered her, and he patted at his uniform as if he were double-checking that it was really there. “What’s happened?”

            The journalists and the citizens of Paris flocked out onto the streets then, buzzing with questions and excitement, and Ladybug ran her fingers through her bangs as she slowly rocked back onto her heels. A chorus of ‘ _Ladybug, Ladybug_ ’s’ ricocheted in the now bustling street, and although several people were speaking to her, her thoughts were preoccupied with Chat Noir. She slowly stood on her own two feet, turning her back on Daniel in a state of dizziness and confusion.

            “– Chat Noir?”

            The name was like a gunshot, and Ladybug’s head snapped in the direction of a young male reporter, his eyes gleaming with excitement as their gazes met. “I’m sorry,” Ladybug said. “What did you say?”

            “Where’s Chat Noir?” The reporter repeated, and he shoved his microphone in her direction. A number of other microphones followed. “Usually he hangs around to help with the victims.”

            That was true. If he had enough juice left in his miraculous, Chat Noir _always_ stayed behind to check on victims of the akuma attack, most specifically the akumatised villain.

            “Erm –” Ladybug’s voice caught in her dry throat, and she fingered the collar of her spandex suit. “He’s – Chat Noir had to run. His miraculous.” Her answers were short and brief, her tongue dry and thick as she tried to speak. She glanced over her shoulder at the short whoop of an ambulance siren – _oh, good_ , she thought. At least Daniel the fireman was being looked after. Now she wished someone would look after her because her heart was beating a mile a minute.

            He knew. He had known all that time.

            He’d dangled it in front of her face, and she hadn’t even realised.

            Adrien Agreste had sat with Marinette Dupain-Cheng on a lonely park bench, _knowing_ full well just who she really was, and hadn’t said anything.

            And yes, it made her mad.

            Chat Noir, _her_ Chat Noir, hadn’t said a word to her.

            A simple _‘hey Marinette, how are you? Oh, just so you know I’m Chat Noir’_ would have been nice. She had bled her heart out to Chat Noir, how she had wanted _more_ , and how she had wanted _more_ with Chat’s civilian self. And still, he hadn’t told her who he was.

            ‘ _It was never up to you to decide when he was ready to tell you’_ a quiet voice inside her brain whispered. She might have blamed it on Tiki, brushing it off as her link with the kwami, but she knew that wasn’t how it worked. Her conscious, quiet and calm, telling her the completely rational and logical reason to Chat’s secrecy, but the hurt inside her chest was still swelling. Did he not trust her to keep his identity a secret? Ladybug gritted her teeth at the thought and blinked back the burn of tears.

            “Ladybug!” a blonde reporter called out, staggering to remain upright in a crowd of nosy journalists all keen to get their scoop on the spotted super heroine. “What caused today’s akuma attack?”

            “I’m not too sure,” Ladybug answered honestly, and she mentally kicked herself for abandoning Daniel like she had. She looked over her shoulder once more, but the former villain had been pulled away to safety in the back of an ambulance. “I didn’t get the chance to talk with the victim.”

            “What are some top tips for avoiding being akumatised?” Another called out, and Ladybug heard the _ah’s_ and _oh’s_ of approval.

            “Positivity,” Ladybug responded, but the word felt like a lie as it rolled of her heavy tongue. She was feeling anything but positive at that moment, and negativity and uncertainty was clouding in her mind. “Always remember that you are never alone. No matter how bad it is, there is always someone.” She paused to swallow, and she could feel an ache at the back of her throat. “Don’t give in to Hawkmoth’s pull. We all deserve more than that.”

            And even as she said it, she _felt_ that soon she would burst into tears, and if it weren’t sadness that overwhelmed her, then it would be anger, and positivity seemed dim in comparison to the heaviness in her chest.

 

* * *

 

 

Marinette didn’t see Chat Noir that night, nor did she hear from him. As a matter of fact, she didn’t see or hear from him for the next two days. Adrien Agreste was absent from school, and when Alya asked where he was, Nino had shrugged and said that he was most likely sick. Marinette had slumped back into her seat, arms crossed tightly over her chest as she burned holes into the seat in front of her.

            She couldn’t understand what he was thinking.

            Marinette had been under the impression that things were going along well with their relationship. Chat Noir didn’t seem to mind that Ladybug had turned out to be Marinette Dupain-Cheng at all – but was Adrien a different story? It was plausible. Adrien was a popular teen model, not to mention the son of the famous fashion designer Gabriel Agreste. And Marinette? Well, without Ladybug in the equation, she might’ve come across as quite simple and plain to supermodel Adrien Agreste.

            She didn’t wait for Alya at the school gate that morning. Marinette was too preoccupied with stewing in her own bubble of anger and self-pity, and all she wanted was to get to her seat and pretend that she was paying attention in class, when in actuality, she was imagining all the things she would say to Chat – _Adrien_ – when he finally returned to school. However, she wasn’t prepared for Adrien to actually show up that morning.

            Their eyes met as she entered the room, and Marinette felt her heart leap into her throat as she came to a standstill. Adrien was already seated, and his hair too neat and his behaviour too proper to even resemble Chat Noir in the slightest. He’d been speaking to Nino, but his mouth had stopped moving the instant he saw Marinette walk through the door.

Marinette kind of wanted to cry. She wanted to scream, too. Wanted to hug him tight. Wanted to apologise. Wanted to get mad at him. But she didn’t do any of that, and instead, she willed herself to breathe and walked straight past him and to her seat. And _God_ , her heart ached. Because she loved him, whether he was Chat Noir or Adrien Agreste, she loved him dearly – and now? Marinette had no idea where she stood. If he felt the same way, wouldn't he have talked to her the day she found out who he was?

“Good morning, everyone,” Mrs Mendeleiev greeted, her spectacles low on the bridge of her nose as she took a third of the papers in her arms and handed placed them on Adrien and Nino’s desk. “I have something exciting for you all,” she continued as she distributed another third of the documents to the other side of the classroom. “In three weeks, we’ll be going as a class on a three day science trip.”

The class broke off into excited chatter, and even Marinette felt her mood lighten. It dropped again, however, when Adrien twisted in his seat and held the permission forms out for her to take. She turned her head and focussed on Mrs Mendeleiev instead.

“Principle Damocles approved of the trip as it suits the curriculum,” the teacher continued, and she dropped the remaining permission forms on her desk before she placed her hands on her hips and faced the classroom. “The trip will be focused on museum visits, where we will focus on evolution. Don’t think this is a vacation. It’s still school time. No signed permission form – no trip.”

Alya dug an elbow into Marinette’s ribs, grinning from ear to ear as she whispered, “A three day excursion? This is going to be so much fun, Marinette!”

A three-day excursion outside of Paris did sound like fun to Marinette, but there were four things she had to take into consideration.

One. Marinette was the super heroine Ladybug.

Two. Her crime-fighting partner Chat Noir just so happened to be Adrien Agreste.

Three. If the two heroes left Paris and Hawkmoth launched an attack, it could take them up to three hours to return by train.

And four. If she and Adrien didn’t work things out before then, she could expect an incredibly awkward three days.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i present to you, "they were happy but now they're not" ∩(︶▽︶)∩  
> pro tip: if you're not sure about something or another person's feelings, ASK don't assume :))  
> don't pull a marinette, it can only end in heartache (✿◠‿◠)
> 
> THANK YOU for reading and the kudos, and all the lovely comments, ahh, i'm so grateful to have readers like you! i hope that you all will continue to enjoy this fic!!


	21. Chapter 21

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> hmm i'm not sure about this chapter still :// but i hope you enjoy! 
> 
>  
> 
> also WOW thank you guys for the comments, they're all so amazing! sorry i don't always reply but i love thEM

Marinette didn’t hate Adrien, but she didn’t necessarily like him at that particular moment in time. She was trying to pay attention to what Alya was talking about, babbling on and on about the events that had occurred in her life over the past few weeks. She distantly heard Alya mention Nino visiting her at her house, but Marinette was too focused on burning holes through Adrien Agreste’s perfectly blonde hair to fully process it. It was afternoon break, and Marinette chewed angrily on the lunch her father had packed for her, tearing the bread viciously with her teeth as she glared through narrowed eyes. Adrien sat with Nino a good stone’s throw away, apparently completely oblivious as he shared a casual conversation with his best friend. Nino took a pause to take a bit of his lunch, and Marinette realised that Adrien was empty-handed – no lunch for the supermodel. A quiet rumble rose from Marinette’s throat, and she was fairly certain that she felt Tikki kick her in warning from inside Marinette’s pink purse.

            “Okay. What’s the deal?” Alya asked as she tugged on one of Marinette’s ears, and Marinette squeaked in surprise.

            “What do you mean?” She asked. “What deal?”

            “You’ve been glaring at Adrien like you want him to combust into flames.”

            “Oh,” Marinette sighed, her eyebrows rising as her gaze lingered on the blonde-haired boy for another several seconds. “Is that what it looks like.”

            “So?” Alya asked a second time. “What’s going on.”

            Marinette wished that she could tell her everything. After all, Alya was her best friend, and she told everything – unrelated to anything to do with Ladybug, of course. She wanted nothing more than to gossip about all the drama between her, Adrien and Chat Noir all day and all night long with her best friend, and have her know _everything_ about _everything_. But she couldn’t. Because Alya couldn’t know that Marinette was Ladybug, and she most definitely couldn’t know that Adrien was Chat Noir. So instead of telling her the complete truth, she opted for another approach.

            “Well,” Marinette began slowly, and when she glanced over at Adrien once again, she found that both Adrien and Nino were looking over in their direction. Adrien’s grin fell when he caught side of Marinette, and he quickly looked away. “You know how Chloe wouldn’t like to be seen hanging around with someone like me?”

            “Someone like you?” Alya repeated, her eyebrows roused as she rested her chin in the palm of her hand.

            “Someone not rich or famous.”

            “Sabrina isn’t necessarily rich or famous –”

            “Yes but we’re talking about _me_ ,” Marinette swiftly interrupted, and she fiddled with the strap of her pink purse. “Chloe wouldn’t want to be seen hanging around me, correct?”

            “Correct,” Alya answered slowly.

            “Well…” Marinette paused, and it took all of her willpower to keep herself from looking over at Adrien. If they caught eyes again, she might actually storm over to him, grab him by the collar, and demand answers. “Do you think that Adrien maybe feels the same way?”

            Alya groaned instantly. “Marinette –”

            “No, but really!” She retorted, her voice high as she grabbed Alya by the wrist and shifted closer to her. “Do you think that Adrien Agreste would not want to be seen with Marinette Dupain-Cheng?”

            “Alya thinks,” she began, a perfectly groomed eyebrow cocked. “That Adrien is not shallow like that, and that he’d be _lucky_ to be able to be seen with you.”

Marinette sighed. “Maybe.”

“Marinette,” Alya said softly, her lips curving into a warm smile. “Stop doubting yourself. You’re amazing.”

Marinette frowned. She didn’t feel amazing. She felt like going home, crawling beneath the covers of her bed and hiding from the rest of the world. But that wouldn’t solve anything. If this were a game of chess, then one of them would have to make the first move eventually – Marinette, or Adrien? The last time they’d… had a _misunderstanding_ , they’d ignored each other for days. Marinette had been the one to make the first move back then, and as she crossed her ankles, she wondered if Adrien would take the reigns this time.

No. That wasn’t the way she should be thinking.

And suddenly, it hit her. It wasn’t a game of cat and mouse – it was a _relationship_. A relationship that required conversation and maturity instead of days and days of snubbing one another. Fine, if Adrien wanted to give Marinette the cold-shoulder, then he could feel free.

But _Chat Noir_ had been in a relationship with Ladybug and Marinette, and that was not going to stand at all.

“Fine,” Marinette announced, and she slammed her palms down on the wooden bench as she stood. Beside her, Alya yapped in surprise and stared up at her with wide eyes, her glasses pushed high against the bridge of her nose.

“What are you doing?” Alya asked anxiously, and she hastily scrambled out off her seat. “Marinette!”

She wasn’t entirely sure if Alya was following after her. Marinette was too focused on storming over to where the two boys sat peacefully. She didn’t know what she was going to say to him, she hadn’t properly thought it all out. But these periods of ignoring each other – it was stupid and immature, and Marinette was _not_ in the mood to endure the childishness any longer.

Marinette stood on Nino’s side (possibly because her heart was beating incredibly fast and she was afraid if she were any closer to Adrien he might hear it), and she threw her hands on her hips as she smiled sweetly down at the two boys.

“Hello,” Was all she said.

Nino’s eyes shifted from Marinette, to Adrien, and back to Marinette before he slowly but kindly greeted, “Hey, Marinette.”

_Oh God._ Adrien was staring at her, his lips parted and his green eyes wide, and suddenly Marinette had forgotten any concept of what she might’ve planned on saying. To keep from looking stupid in front of them, she sniffed, “I know you both –” Her eyes were on Adrien as she said the last word. “– Must be oh-so-busy, but me and Alya were talking about this science trip, and we got talking – did you know that it’s scientifically proven that men tend to die earlier than women?”

“Oh?” Nino answered slowly, as if unsure what to say. “That’s cool –”

“That’s cool,” Adrien cut in quickly, and she folded her arms over her chest as she scowled down at him. “I’d argue that it’s because women stress men out, so their premature deaths are the result of high stress levels.”

“I don’t –” Nino tried to talk, but Marinette interjected by stating, “Perhaps if men weren’t so temperamental, women-inflicted stress levels on men would decline.”

“Temperamental?” Adrien repeated, incredulous. Nino quietly pulled himself out of the way, and completely disappeared from Marinette’s field of vision.

“Men can tend to be dishonest,” Marinette elaborated. “And when the woman finds out about the dishonesty, they decide that they’d rather sulk than discuss what’s happened.”

“Sometimes there’s a lot more to it,” he argued, seemingly calm compared to the emotions bubbling inside Marinette. “Like a crucial reason behind the dishonesty. And sometimes, the dishonesty is necessary for the wellbeing of many people.”

Marinette sucked on the inside of her cheek. _Damn_. What was she doing? This wasn’t mature. This wasn’t working things out. She was upset and angry and hurt, but arguing and asserting blame on Adrien wasn’t going to solve anything. She broke eye contact, her gaze shifting elsewhere, and she met the faces of many of her classmates.

Alya, Nino, Mylene, Ivan, Alix, Kim. They’d been watching, but they turned their attentions elsewhere the moment the argument had quietened.

“I’m sorry,” Marinette told him quietly, her head bowed – wanting to look anywhere except for Adrien’s bright green eyes. “And I’m sorry that I found out the way I did.”

Marinette turned her back on Adrien, had wanting to solve everything between the two but had only made it worse, and she thought over her irrational behaviour as of late. Unbefitting of a super heroine.

But Adrien reached for her wrist and pulled her close, and Marinette stumbled on her own two feet as she collapsed onto his chest; warm and solid, but slim.

And she opened her mouth to protest, but then she felt the tell tale shudder of a suppressed sob rock her body, and Marinette felt heartache as beautiful and bright Adrien Agreste began to cry into the crook of her neck.


	22. Chapter 22

Marinette’s first priority was to get Adrien away from everyone.

            People were looking, and Marinette could soon hear the soft murmurings of speculation among her school peers. She wasn’t sure if they knew what was really occurring – as far as anyone else was concerned, Adrien had just hugged Marinette. However, that was still deemed as an abnormal occurrence. She slung her arm over his shoulders, his face still buried in her neck, and she hurried as quickly as she could towards the school building. Adrien, whether or not conscious of the situation, complied.

            Her second priority was to calm him down.

            “Adrien,” Marinette whispered, her fingers shifting through his hair as they settled in an empty classroom. “Adrien, it’s okay. I’m here, it’s okay.”

            He hiccupped on a large sob, and he lifted his head to talk to her, his cheeks – unnaturally pale – wet with tears. “I – I –”

            Marinette hushed him calmly, her thumb smoothing over his eyebrow as she held his face in her hands. “Calm down first. Deep breaths.”

            It was awful, and Marinette felt gutted. She _hated_ seeing Adrien this way, and made her feel terrible inside. God, was this her fault? Had she driven him to the point and pushed him off the edge?

            She wasn’t entirely sure how long she waited for Adrien to calm down, but she noticed that the redness in the whites of his eyes made the green so incredibly bright. His lips were cracked and ripped – he’d been biting down on his bottom lip to keep it from trembling.

            “It’s alright,” Marinette reminded him softly. “It’s okay.”

            “Sorry,” Was the first thing that he said, his voice rougher than usual, and it was the first time that Marinette was able to identify Chat Noir’s voice leaving Adrien Agreste’s lips. “I’m sorry, Marinette.”

            “I’m sorry, too,” Marinette told him, her hand stroking the top of his head, fingers curling lightly into his blonde hair. “I was being selfish. You weren’t talking to me, and I was angry and upset. I thought that you didn’t want to be seen with someone like me –”

            “That’s not true!” Adrien exclaimed as he pulled away, the whites of his eyes red and bloodshot.

            “I know it’s not,” she agreed. “I know it’s not. I was stupid for thinking that could be true.”

            Adrien sniffed and wiped his nose with the sleeve of his jacket, his quivering bottom lip slowly stabling. “I don’t know why I’m crying,” he told her quietly. “It’s embarrassing.”

            “No.” Marinette hugged him closer, pulling him as closer to her as she could. “Don’t be embarrassed. It’s alright for you to cry.”

            Adrien didn’t answer her, and Marinette assumed that he just wanted some quiet, so she sat with him silently, slowly stroking his hair. He’d begun to calm down, his breathing had returned to normal, and Marinette wished that she had a wet cloth to wash his flushed face with. God, if she hadn’t have been so temperamental and childish, none of this would have happened.

            There wouldn’t have been any tension.

            Adrien wouldn’t be crying.

            Marinette wouldn’t be feeling like the scum of the Earth.

            She wondered what Adrien might say to her when he finally spoke – if he ever did, that was. He’d been silent for several moments now, staring off into the distant in a distant daze with Marinette’s arms around him. She wanted to talk to him, to ask what was on his mind, or if he was okay, but she didn’t want to push him over an invisible line that she couldn’t see.

            “I’m scared that you’ll leave me,” Adrien finally said, his voice so crisp and clear that it shocked Marinette. She blinked in surprise and stared dumbly as he pulled out of her hold once more and looked at her. “I’m terrified of being abandoned. I don’t want you to go anywhere.”

            “Adrien,” Marinette whispered, and she shook her head and tried to reach for him. “I’m not going anywhere. It’s you and me. We’re a team.”

            “I’m not Chat Noir, Marinette,” he stated firmly, and Marinette felt her breath catch in the back of her throat. “Chat and Adrien are two completely different people. I can’t be Chat all the time.”

            “I know, I – it’s okay. There’s nothing wrong with Adrien –”

            “You don’t understand,” Adrien sighed, and he sucked in a deep, hard breath, as if he were having difficulty breathing. “You’re so bright and happy, as both Marinette and Ladybug. Chat Noir’s just a front, I’m not –” His voice caught, and as Marinette’s fingers carefully entwined with Adrien’s, she felt her heart sink her chest. “I’m not happy all the time. Not like Chat Noir. Not like the Adrien you might’ve thought you knew.”

            Marinette was speechless for several, long moments.

            Sure, Chat Noir had told Ladybug one or two questionable things about his home-life, most particularly his father, but she hadn’t expected to hear that. At one point, Marinette had idolised Adrien Agreste. She had put him high up on a pedestal, claimed him to be perfect and beautiful with no flaws. Of course, now she knew that wasn’t the truth.

            “Adrien, I’m so sorry,” Was the first thing Marinette said, and as she tightened her grip around his hand, she continued, “No matter what, I want to be with you. Whether that’s as Chat Noir or Adrien, I want you. I’m here for you – here for _us_ , okay?”

            Adrien sighed, and Marinette saw his shoulders relax slightly. It seemed like there was still something on his mind, still something worrying him, but Marinette held her tongue. She would ask him later, when she was sure that he was calm and comfortable.

            “Okay?” Marinette asked.

            “Okay,” Adrien repeated.

            “I’m not going anywhere,” she reassured him once more, just to make sure he had the fact drilled into his mind. She wanted him to know, _needed_ him to know. “It’s you and me.”

            The school bell rang in the next instant, signalling the end of their break, and soon students would be flooding back into the classrooms. It surprised Marinette so much that she actually jumped, as if she’d been caught doing something naughty and illegal, but Adrien only wiped his nose again.

            “I have a free period,” Marinette told him. “Did you want to hide out for a little while?”

            “I can’t,” Adrien told her. “I have fencing practice scheduled for most of my free periods. If I missed it, my father would –”

            “Kill you?” Marinette guessed, and when Adrien rolled his eyes, she smiled faintly. “That’s okay. I better not keep you, then.”

            Adrien clambered to his knees, and then his feet, and Marinette rolled her lips together as she again – because she’d noticed it quite a bit lately – made note of how thin Adrien actually was. She didn’t doubt that if they weighed themselves, they’d share the same weight.

            “Adrien!” Marinette quickly exclaimed, a little too desperate than she had planned. “I’d like for you to spend more time with me and my family. If you wouldn’t mind?”

            “Are you sure?” He asked slowly, and he scratched the back of his neck – something else that Marinette noticed a lot with him.

            She nodded her head vigorously. “Yes. What’s mine is yours.”

            A grin cracked on Adrien’s mouth, and Marinette felt butterflies in her stomach as he asked, “Isn’t that what married couples say?”

            Marinette blushed and she blurted, “You’re going to be late for practice!”

            She stumbled to her feet, face flushed and heart fluttering, and by the time Marinette stabilised herself, Adrien had already strode over to her, taken her hand in his, and gently pressed his lips to her knuckles.

            “Thank you, My Lady,” he murmured, and kissed the underside of her wrist. “Princess.” Adrien had lifted his head, and his lips ghosted over hers. Marinette could feel his warm breath against her mouth, could feel his bottom lip lightly drag against her upper lip. Marinette’s stomach flipped, and her lips split to release an eager gasp as she felt his fingers press into the skin of her lower back. “Marinette.”

            Yes. Yes, yes, _yes_.

            Marinette latched onto the fabric of his shirt, fingers clutching the material, and when she kissed Adrien, she could still taste the salt from his earlier tears – but God, were his lips softer than ever.

            She breathed him in as they kissed, and he smelt sweet and fruity – somewhat surprising but delightful nonetheless – and she absolutely _loved_ the whimper that crawled up his throat when her fingers tugged at his thick locks. Adrien was going to be late to practice, they both knew that, but apparently neither of them cared too much.

            They hadn’t even realised that they had company until they heard the high-pitched shriek of betrayal from the classroom door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FIRST OF ALL I AM SO SORRY. i didn't even realise that so long had passed since i last updated i'm terrible please forgive me (╯ಊ╰)
> 
> second of all, thank you all so much. every one of you is so kind and supportive, you're all amazing. i hope you continue to enjoy this fan fic xox


	23. Chapter 23

Sabrina Raincomprix was a relatively quiet person when she wasn’t hanging around with Chloe, so it was surprising to Marinette and Adrien both when they heard her screaming her pipes out. Anyone would have thought that Sabrina had caught her husband of thirty years cheating on her with a younger, more attractive woman, but no. Instead she’d walked in on Adrien and Marinette sharing not-so-innocent kisses in an empty classroom. Marinette blanked, her eyes wide and frightened like a deer caught in the headlights, and she felt herself trying to produce sound before her brain could even comprehend what to say.

            “Sabrina!” Chloe snapped, irritation evident as he shoved past her redheaded friend, and for a brief moment, Marinette thought that she hadn’t even realised the situation. That was, until, she shot the two entwined teenagers a double take, and looked them up and down with obvious bewilderment. Several moments passed, but it felt like a lifetime until Chloe finally sucked in a sharp breath, and unleashed an ungodly scream. “Adrien!” She cried, distraught, and flung herself towards him, shoving Marinette out of the way as she clung to Adrien’s shoulders. “What do you think you’re doing?”

            “I –” Adrien began, but Chloe wasn’t finished.

            “Oh, I know!” She interjected, a smile on her face, but not entirely there. “It was a mistake, right? This is all a misunderstanding?”

            “What’s going on?” Alya asked, and Marinette felt her blood run cold. She’d just pushed through the classroom door, ignorant to the cause of all the commotion, and now that Marinette had dragged her eyes away from Chloe’s antics, she noticed that a few of her classmates had crowded around the door too.

            “Marinette assaulted Adrien!” Chloe shouted, her arms tight around his neck as she threw a venomous glare at Marinette over her shoulder. “It was awful!”

            “That’s not true!” Marinette defended, and she felt her own irrational rage bubbling and boiling deep in the pit of her stomach. “I wasn’t _assaulting_ Adrien.”

            “She wasn’t,” Adrien added, the high apples of his cheeks slightly pink from embarrassment, and he smiled sheepishly as he tried to wrestle Chloe’s arms off him.

            “Then what –” Chloe snarled.

            “It looked like –” Sabrina began.

            “Were they –” Rose whispered.

            “I think so,” Juleka replied.

            “Chloe –” Adrien complained.

            “Marinette –” Alya said.

            “Adrien!” Marinette cried.

            “ _Hey_!” Miss Bustier snapped, loud and furious, with her hands against her hips. She stood by the classroom door, blocked by the students that milled around the entrance of the room. “I don’t know _what’s_ going on here, but you all need to get to your next classes. Go!”

            The onlookers were the first to scatter out of the room. Adrien shot an apologetic glance at Marinette, to which she nodded, and he shrugged out of Chloe’s hold and scampered quickly out of the room. Chloe scowled at Marinette, her stare right between her eyes, and she scoffed to herself as she turned on her heel and fled the room, Sabrina quickly in tow.

That left Marinette, Alya, and Miss Bustier.

            Marinette swallowed. “Alya, I –”

            “Girls,” Miss Bustier warned, and she sent them out of the classroom with a stern stare and her index finger pointed towards the classroom door where a class of younger students were watching silently. They left the room quietly, Marinette’s head hung low as she thought of almost every excuse she could think of to get herself out of this awkward situation.

            “Marinette?” Alya asked calmly, her voice soft as they made their way through the quiet hallways. “What just happened?”

            “Um –”

            “Do _not_ lie to me.” Alya stopped, her arms folded crossly over her chest, and she regarded Marinette with such intensity that she actually felt a little afraid. “So it wasn’t enough that you were staring daggers at Adrien during break? Then you had to storm over to him and start a random argument? _And_ then you two disappear and are found alone in an empty classroom?”

            “Alya, I can explain.”

            “Yeah, you will,” she demanded, an eyebrow cocked. “What exactly are you keeping from me?”

            _Oh Alya, I wish I could tell you_.

            “Okay,” Marinette breathed, nerves causing her voice to tremble. “Long story short: Adrien and I are together.”

            Alya stared at her dumbly for a whole minute, her face entirely emotionless apart from the raised brow, until she finally shouted, “ _What_! How?”

            “I – I don’t know!” Marinette defended, and she realised how awfully tired she was getting of lying to her best friend all the time. “We just got a lot closer in the past few weeks. It sort of just happened.”

            “Why weren’t you telling me any of this?” She reached out and grabbed Marinette’s shoulders, her fingertips pressing a little too hard into the skin. “I’m your best friend! How come I was completely out of the blue?”

            “I don’t know,” Marinette repeated, distressed, and she shook her head as she swallowed a hard lump in her throat. “I – I can’t tell you right now. I’m so sorry.”

            “You can’t… tell me?” Alya repeated, apparently shocked at what’d she’d just been told, and her hands dropped from Marinette’s shoulders and to her sides. “You can’t tell your best friend?”

            “I’m sorry, Alya. If you just let me talk to Adrien –”

            “Forget it,” Alya told her, and she fixed her spectacles higher on the bridge of her nose. “It doesn’t matter.”

            “Alya –”

            “I’m not mad at you or anything, Marinette,” Alya said, but her arms were still folded tightly over her chest. “I’m just a little disappointed.”

            Marinette watched as she walked away, wanting to say something but not know what. She felt Tiki rummage in her purse, and carefully pop her head out to see what was going on. The kwami didn’t say anything, just climbed out of the purse and put her small hand over Marinette’s finger to comfort her. Marinette didn’t want to be told that everything would be okay – she wasn’t sure if it would be.

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

“She hates me,” Ladybug stated.

            “She doesn’t hate you,” Chat Noir said, his chin resting on his fist. They sat atop a dusty rooftop of one of Paris’s lesser hotels, and Chat carefully dragged a black claw through a terracotta pot filled with damp soil. “She’s just a little upset.”

            “But she did the same thing to me with Nino,” Ladybug defended, and she sighed heavily, her foot tapping irritably against the rooftop. “She didn’t tell me that her and Nino were a thing. She still hasn’t told me. It’s not fair, it’s – it’s hypocritical!”

            “That’s probably not the mindset you should adopt, My Lady,” Chat mumbled under his breath, just loud enough for her to hear. “I’ll help you work it out with her. Don’t stress about it too much.”

            “Mm-Hm,” she hummed, lips pursed as she watched him play contently with the pot plant. “Well, what happened with you and Nino?”

            “Not much,” he admitted, and paused his ministrations long enough to look across at her. “Nino’s pretty laidback, and he knows that I don’t share much about my personal life.” Chat paused, shrugged a shoulder and continued drawing patterns into the dirt. “He said he was happy for me.”

            “That’s nice of him,” Ladybug commented, and she sighed again, a little softer, as she made her way over to him and pressed her hands on his shoulders. “So,” she said as she began massaging the taught muscles in his neck and shoulders.

            “So,” Chat Noir repeated, and he leant backwards into Ladybug’s body, tilting his face up so he could look at her.

            “We’re boyfriend and girlfriend now?” She asked, just to make sure, and she sucked on the inside of her cheek as her thumb circled a tense bundle of nerves between Chat’s shoulder blades. “As both Ladybug and Chat Noir, and Marinette and Adrien?”

            “My Lady,” he purred. “You can have whatever you like if you keep doing what you’re doing.”

            “Oh?” Ladybug smiled, her lips twitching into a slightly askew smile, and she lowered herself to her knees, her thumbs wandering further up to work his neck muscles. “You like this?”

            Chat Noir hummed in approval deep in his throat, and he purred, “It feels absolutely _purr_ -fect, My Lady.”

            She smiled to herself, sincere and loving, for although she now had unresolved problems with Alya she would need to deal with, finally – _finally_ – she was in a good place with Chat – Adrien? – and was incredibly, impeccably happy. Ladybug wanted to scream it from the rooftops, wanted the whole of Paris to know – no, the whole of _France_ – to know that she loved Chat Noir with her whole heart.

            Chat Noir’s ears perked up, and she watched in content silence as he scanned the rooftop, his green eyes so incredibly bright in the late night, and Ladybug couldn’t help herself when she said, “I love you.”

            His attention shifted to her then as he tilted his face upwards, and the toothy smile that grew on his face was almost enough to melt Ladybug’s heart. “I love you, too,” Chat replied, no puns, no jokes – just his true, earnest feelings. Her hands were still on his shoulders when she kissed him, sweet and innocent, and she felt him lift his hand to gently grab her wrist.

            “Kiss?” Chat Noir asked after Ladybug had pulled away, and he pouted when she shook her head. “Why not?”

            “We’re supposed to be patrolling,” Ladybug reminded him, and she pushed herself to her feet, dusting dirt off her knees. “We can’t canoodle –”

            “ _Canoodle?_ ” Chat interjected, amused.

            “– All the time. We’ve got a job to do.” She put her hands to her hips and balanced her body weight on her right leg. “Besides,” she continued. “We should probably talk about this science trip for school.”

            “What about it?” Chat asked, and he rose to his own two feet, digging under his claws to remove the soil stuck there.

            “Well, I was thinking that we can’t exactly go at the same time,” Ladybug said softly, and she shrugged her shoulders awkwardly. “Can we?”

            Chat Noir took a moment to ponder what she meant, and when it finally dawned upon him, he seemed to look disappointed. “Right,” he agreed, nodding his head slowly. “If we’re both gone, no one’s here to protect Paris from akuma.”

            “I think I’ll talk to Tiki about it. See what she says.”

            “Yeah, I’ll talk to Plagg.”

            “Sucks, doesn’t it?” Ladybug sighed, and she held her hands out for Chat Noir to take. He kissed her knuckles first, and then held them. “I guess we can’t both go on holidays and trips outside of Paris at the same time.”

            “Not unless we want the city to burn down?” Chat suggested teasingly.

            Ladybug rolled her eyes and she dropped his right hand to flick him on the nose, and as she looked into his cat-like eyes she had to keep telling herself – _this is Adrien Agreste; this is Chat Noir. This is Adrien Agreste and Chat Noir_.

            “Bug?” Chat Noir asked, and his eyebrow roused beneath his black mask. “Bugaboo?”

            She kissed him on the lips once more, her mouth lingering over his for what felt like forever and not long enough at the same time, and she dipped her hands into the pockets of his leather costume. “Time to go, Kitty. It’s getting late.”

            “Aw,” he whined. “Just five more minutes?”

            “No can do, it’s a school night,” Ladybug told him, and she jabbed his chest with her index finger. “We’ll see each other tomorrow.”

            Chat Noir pouted still, but he took her hand and pressed a feather light kiss to Ladybug’s knuckles, and then he whispered, “Until tomorrow, My Lady.”

           

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HEY !!  
> so i wanted to try (try) and post a reasonably long-ish and early-ish update to make up for my terrible schedule as of late, please forgive and i hope you enjoy!! 
> 
> so.. still debating if i want to resolve everything in this fic and live happily ever after, or if i shall through in some more drama hmm decisions


	24. Small Author's Note

Hello everyone! 

I'm incredibly sorry that it's been so long since I've updated and I am most definetly planning on continuing the fic! 

Currently I'm wrapping up the year at university, so with the many final reports and essays due over the last few months and exams this month, I haven't had the chance to write anything. 

I hope that you all understand, and I'm hoping to have updated this month after my exams! 

Thank you for being patient!


	25. Chapter 25

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello.. im back.. srry i love u

Alya hadn’t showed up to school, nor had she answered any of Marinette’s texts – and that worried Marinette.

            “Don’t overthink things,” Tiki reasoned, voice calm and soothing as she spoke from where she perched atop Marinette’s head. “Alya is your best friend, so I know that it’ll work out. She’s probably just a little upset.”

            “But I’ve apologised a thousand times!” Marinette exclaimed. It was an exaggeration of course, she hadn’t wanted to sound so clingy and had only messaged or three or four times.

            “Give her some more time, Marinette. You’ve got to be patient.” Tiki dropped from Marinette’s head and lingered in front of her face, her small hands touching the ball of her nose. “In the meantime, we can figure out what to do about the science trip.”

            “Well,” Marinette began. “What do you think?”

            “I think that it wouldn’t be smart for both of Paris’s superheroes to leave the city for so long,” Tiki told her, and her small face scrunched up in thought. “But it’s not fair that one of you should miss out on the trip. How long did you say it goes for?”

            “Three days,” Marinette answered.

            “Three days,” Tiki contemplated, and Marinette watched as the red kwami zipped across the room and sat herself neatly on the chaise lounge. “But anything could happen in three days.”

            “So what do you think we should do?”

            Marinette’s phone rung the next moment, and she leapt madly for it as if it were some brand of atomic bomb. She had half expected it to be Alya, but the caller ID told her otherwise.

            “Meow-ning,” Marinette answered.

            “Isn’t that my line?” Adrien asked from the other end of the line, and his voice brought an instant smile to Marinette’s mouth. “How are you this fine Cat _-_ urday, Bugaboo?”

            Marinette hummed before she said, “Meow-nificant, but I must admit that I’m already getting tired of these puns.”

            “Boo-hoo,” Adrien teased, and Marinette heard him quietly chuckle to himself. “Are you free today?”

            “Actually,” she began. “I was thinking of visiting my favourite Parisian superhero. You may have heard of him – may have not.”

            “Oh? Who is he?”

            “He goes by Chat Noir –”

            “Sounds handsome.” Marinette rolled her eyes, but before she had the opportunity to respond, Adrien continued, “Can I come over?”

            “Um, when? I mean, yeah I guess but I –”

            There was a quick rasp at the porthole above Marinette’s bed, and she glanced over just in time to see Chat Noir help himself into her room and drop down onto the unmade bed. He’d already smoothly slid down the ladder and was walking towards Marinette, baton resting in the crook of his neck, in a matter of mere seconds.

            “As smooth as a cat,” Marinette commented.

            “Cute pyjamas,” Chat quipped back, grinning ear to ear, and showing her a double thumbs-up in appreciation. “I love pink duckies.”

            “Breaking and entering is a thing.”

            “Yes, but I’m a superhero.” He paused to contemplate, and then added, “Superheroes have an immunity when it comes to breaking and entering.”

            “Should we ask my parents what they think?” Marinette teased.

            “Ha ha,” Chat countered, and within a short beat, Chat Noir disappeared behind a flurry of green, and Adrien Agreste had replaced where he stood. Marinette wasn’t too entirely sure how long it would take her to get used to that. “Can I spend the day with you?” He asked.

            Now just a few days ago, that was something that Marinette hadn’t thought she would hear in a thousand years. But Adrien had turned out to be her crime-fighting partner, and now her boyfriend – which was, coincidently, something she’d only been dreaming about for years.

            “Spend the day with little old me?” Marinette asked sweetly as she batted her eyelashes, palms together as she pressed the knuckles of her right hand against her left cheek. “Why, how could I refuse such an offer?”

            “My Lady,” Adrien said. “This pleases me very much.”

            “Ugh, blugh,” another voice remarked, seemingly unimpressed by the conversation, and a small black (was that a cat or a mouse? Marinette couldn’t quite tell) creature fluttered out from Adrien’s inner pocket. “I think I prefer it when you two are locking lips. This is just torture.”

            “Plagg!” Tikki chastised, zipping over from where she’d been resting on the chaise lounge. “Please don’t interfere with our chosen’s interactions! You should learn to mind your own business.”

            “Yeesh,” Plagg sighed, and he folded his small arms over his small chest. “Fine, fine. Continue.”

            Adrien and Marinette hesitated for several long beats before Adrien finally said, “Moment’s passed.”

            “Well…” Marinette began slowly, and she looked over from Plagg to meet Adrien’s gaze. “Maybe we can get some breakfast?”

            “Breakfast!” Plagg cheered, to which Adrien shot him an irritated glance.

            “Breakfast sounds good,” he agreed.

            “I’ll quickly give Tikki something to eat and get ready,” She paused several seconds, and finally grinned and quickly pressed a chaste and sweet kiss to Adrien’s cheek. His skin was smooth and warm, and she realised when she pulled away that his face had flushed a bright pink. “Meet me outside, okay?”

            “Don’t take too long, _Purr_ -incess,” Chat teased.

Marinette almost wanted to say something when he began to climb down the trapdoor and into the living room, Plagg floating above his shoulder.

“I hope he goes out the back way,” Tikki commented, concern lacing her sweet voice. “I can imagine it would be quite confusing if he left through the bakery and your parents saw him.”

Marinette didn’t really care. She was too giddy and high on love to care.

           

           

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> YIKES!! who's bad?? i'm bad!
> 
> sorry guys, there's not much i can say! i've just been super busy and still am quite busy, so i'll do my very best to continue updating. thank you so so so much to everyone who was/is so considerate and supportive, it means a lot to me.
> 
> i hope you continue to enjoy the story!  
> there will be more dinner parties, upsetti-spaghettis, and a sleepover to come!


	26. Chapter 26

As Marinette and Adrien (Adrien Agreste, she had to continuously remind herself) walked through the warming and lively streets of Paris, hand in hand, she sported a wide, drugged grin, and swung their arms with a passionate force. If her green-eyed, blonde-haired partner had any issue with this, he chose not to comment on it. Marinette was aware of a few glances trailing them as they walked, apparently stunned by the girl accompanying Paris’s modelling sweetheart. Adrien didn’t seem too bothered by it, and even as they stopped in by a small, quiet café who’s customers whispered amongst themselves, his full and undivided attention was on Marinette.

            “Hey,” Marinette said slowly as they settled into a small table. “Don’t you think that people have been looking at us a little more than normal?”

            Adrien glanced around, and cocked an eyebrow. “You’re not used to that?”

            “Not as Marinette, no.”

            He paused and nodded, an expression of realisation finally dawning on his face. “Right,” Adrien said. “Sorry. People are probably just curious to see me with a girl.”

            “But don’t you spend time with Chloe sometimes?”

            “Well, I guess so,” he agreed. “But not too often, and it’s expected of us to, since our parents were close. But you, on the other hand…”

            “What about me?” Marinette asked.

            “Well, people have hardly ever seen me with you.”

            She hummed in response, enough to let Adrien to let him know that she acknowledged what he had said without having to reply to him, and instead she wondered out loud, “What are you going to eat?”

            “I already ate, so I’ll just get a water.” Marinette’s face blanked, and she tapped the prongs of the fork in front of her as she stared Adrien down. “W-What?” He continued. “It’s true! I’m not even hungry –” But as he’d said it, his stomach had grumbled, and Marinette’s eyebrow roused.

            “I don’t want to eat anything if you’re not going to eat,” Marinette stated stubbornly, and she folded her arms tightly over her chest. “Your choice, kitty cat.”

            Adrien’s eyebrows furrowed. “That’s unfair!”

            “You haven’t really eaten anything for breakfast, have you?” Marinette questioned, and when she didn’t receive an answer, she assumed what she had said had been the truth. “That settles it then. You’re eating something.”

            Adrien appeared grouchy, but otherwise didn’t complain, even when Marinette ordered two servings of pancakes with syrup and whipped cream.

            “You have to eat breakfast, Adrien,” Marinette continued as she rolled her smoothie straw between her thumb and index finger. “It’s the most important meal of the day. Besides, you shouldn’t skip meals anyway.”

            “You could be my breakfast,” Adrien purred, his grin sly as he moved his face a little too close to hers considering that they were in public.

            Marinette flushed a hot shade of pink, and she swallowed a thick lump in her throat as she mumbled, “Don’t try and change the subject on me. If you don’t look after yourself I might have to babysit you.”

            “Having you dote on me twenty-four seven doesn’t sound to bad to me.”

            Marinette narrowed her eyes, but she took his hands in hers and tried to hide her smile when Adrien brushed his mouth over his knuckles. “I said babysit, not dote.”

            She felt the eyes on her before she had even noticed the few onlookers watching them, heads lowered as they whispered quietly to their friends. Word must have been getting out that Paris’ most eligible bachelor had finally been snapped up. Marinette forced herself to meet Adrien’s eyes, and she slowly began to detangle her fingers from his.

            His grip suddenly tightened. “Don’t,” he said.

            “Aren’t you worried?”

            Marinette didn’t have to clarify. Adrien’s father was the main (if not the only) stressor in his life. There wasn’t very much that Adrien had control over, apart from when he roamed Paris as Chat Noir. Gabriel Agreste controlled the strings to Adrien’s puppet, and Adrien had finally found a pair of damn scissors.

            “I think it’s time to do what I want.”

            In the light of the morning sun, surrounded by the smells of breakfast and coffee, Adrien Agreste swept Marinette Dupain-Cheng into his arms, and kissed her, long and sweet, with every intention of outing himself.

            It was safe to say – that cat was finally out of the bag.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> jfc im so sorry i tried (slow and steady wins the race).
> 
> smut will probably be coming up in the next few chapters i guess so pls keep in mind they are not 14 or 15 like they are in the show. the fic is set later after the current timeline in the show, and they are of age around 17 thanx. 
> 
> also what the f how good was miraculous season 2 ep 9.   
> not over it.


	27. Chapter 27

It had been maybe half an hour - an hour at the most - when Adrien's mobile buzzed. 

And again. 

And again. 

And then it rang. 

"Who's that?" Marinette finally asked, a little unsure herself whether or not she wanted to know who was so desperately trying to get in touch with Adrien. 

"Natalie," He said grimly, frowning as he stared down at the screen of his cell. 

"Do you think..." She trailed off, feelings of guilt welling in her chest. Adrien had enough trouble with the press and his home-life as it was; adding a blossoming romance to the mix made Marinette feel as if she were inconveniencing whatever quiet time Adrien had left to himself. Sure, he'd been a big hit when they had first met back when they were only fourteen, but Adrien's popularity had only grown since then. Never had Adrien Agreste had a girlfriend - at least, a girlfriend that the public new about.

Until now.

"Yeah," Adrien answered. 

"Are you in trouble?" She asked. 

He didn't hesitate a moment. "Yeah." 

Marinette wasn't entirely sure what to do or say. She hadn't ever been put in this kind of situation before, and it hadn't fully processed until that very moment that her dating Adrien Agreste could cause some very real issues. She'd learned a little about Adrien's father from her time with Chat Noir, and she knew from that that Gabriel was very controlling in many - if not all - aspects of Adrien's life. She wondered how he might react to the news about his son's new girlfriend; the fact that he would (if he hadn't already) heard about it through social media must have really put a cherry on top of the whole situation. She wanted to bring up that Ladybug and Chat Noir had agreed to a short interview for a new press magazine the next afternoon, but it seemed like a bad time to put something else on his plate. 

"I'm sorry, Adrien," Marinette apologised, and she gently stroked the inside of his wrist with her thumb. "I didn't realise that our relationship could stir up so much commotion."

Adrien's eyebrows roused in surprise, and with that cocky grin that was all too familiar (just not on Adrien's face), he said, "Please, you're not insinuating that our relationship is the centre of Paris' attention, are you?"

"I just -"

"Conceited," He interrupted.

Marinette's eyebrows furrowed with disapproval, and she jabbed Adrien's shoulder teasingly. "That's no way to speak to a lady. I was only saying -" 

"There are much bigger things happening in this city than who I decide to date, My Lady," Adrien told her, a small but sweet smile playing on his lips, and he appeared genuinely unbothered by the situation as he took Marinette's hand into his own and entwined their fingers. "For instance, the status of Chat Noir and Ladybug's on and off relationship may be the biggest."

"Oh, ha ha." Marinette rolled her eyes, but she willingly allowed Adrien to tug on her hand and lead her towards the park. He'd pulled her towards the large fountain at the centre of the park before she stopped him, eyes searching his for any sign of unease as she asked seriously, "Are you okay? Really? Promise?"

"I'm okay," Adrien promised her. "Really Marinette, I'm fine. You're making it out to be a bigger deal than what it really is. My father had to know that I was going to start dating eventually."

"I know," She began nervously, fiddling with her fingers as she avoided eye contact and glanced down towards her purse. "Maybe your dad was expecting you to date someone like Chloe."

Adrien frowned, a small crease forming in the space between his blonde eyebrows, and Marinette felt his hand press gently down on her shoulder. "My girlfriend is going to become one of Paris' most favoured fashion designers. Maybe even best the Agreste fashion line, itself."

"You don't know that," Marinette mumbled humbly, but her cheeks were blazing a hot pink and her heart had picked up into a quick pace. "You've only seen a few of my designs. Nothing special."

He flicked her nose, and Marinette flinched, recoiling with surprise as she hid her nose behind her hands. "Stop doubting yourself," He told her. "You're good enough."

And just like that, Marinette felt a weight lift off her shoulders. She sighed deeply, and she breathed out all the heavy unease that had been welling in her chest. Adrien's fingers squeezed comfortingly around her shoulder, and then he moved it back to his side. She'd been worried for a long time now, since she figured out that Chat Noir and Adrien Agreste were one in the same, if she really were good enough for Adrien. She thought that it might make more sense for him to pair together with someone richer and more well known, like Chloe, or Gods, she hated to say it, but even Lila. After all, Marinette was just a baker's daughter. 

"You're thinking too hard," Adrien continued, and when Marinette finally looked up at him, he was smiling sweetly. "I'm not lying to you. We're partners, remember? The cat and bug team."

Marinette stared at him silently for a few beats, content with just gazing into the candy green of his eyes, until she finally held out a fist. 

Adrien, without a single moment of hesitation, grinned and met her fist with his. With a wink he purred, "Pound it."

She sighed, unsure, but smiled as she said, "Can you not keep your dorkish habits at bay for just one minute?"

He slapped a hand over his heart dramatically, and he'd done it so sudden that Marinette actually flinched at the quick movement. "You wound me."

"This is giving me a really weird sense of deja vu," Marinette commented, grimacing as she watched the sweet and innocent Adrien Agreste in front of her morph into the mischievous Chat Noir she knew all too well. "It's uncomfortable." 

Adrien slapped a second hand over his chest, another groan of pain. "Double shot."

"You are so -"

"Sneaky?" A third voice spoke from behind them, and Marinette felt her heart leap into overdrive. 

When Marinette turned, Alya had one eyebrow cocked and a hand on her shoulder as she leant her body weight onto one leg. Beside her was Nino, his eyes shooting apologetic glances between Adrien and Marinette. It almost looked like he was going to cry. 

"Alya -" Marinette began. 

"Before you start," Alya interrupted, and she sighed. "I haven't been ignoring you. Not really. I got a nasty flu, and it was only the other day I got over it." She stopped, and then added with a wry smile, "That's when I started ignoring you." 

"I was going to tell you," Marinette told her. "I really was, Alya."

"It was because of me," Adrien said, swiftly taking control of the conversation as all eyes moved to him. "I didn't want anything getting out to my father about it, so I asked Marinette to keep it a secret. Even from you."

Marinette wanted to say that wasn't the truth, wanted to say that Adrien was only covering for her - but then, what else could she really do? That she was actually Ladybug who was dating Chat Noir, who she revealed her identity to, and whose identity was accidentally revealed to her, and he just so happened to be Adrien Agreste - her school crush who she'd adored for years? No, somehow that seemed even worse. 

"And from me," Nino suddenly piped, a small frown between his eyebrows as he stared the two down. "I wasn't told anything either."

"No one was told anything," Alya said. "That's the whole point."

"Well it's all out now," Marinette finally said, and she met Alya's eyes as she continued, "I'm sorry that I had to keep this from you. But it was something that I absolutely had to do until Adrien and I were both ready to come public. As my best friend, I hope that you can understand that."

Marinette felt Adrien's hand press against the small of her back, and the small pressure was more than enough to help Marinette feel as if she were completely in control.

Alya sighed, long and hard and as if she'd just been done the biggest inconvenience in the world, but she finally shrugged her shoulder and smiled. "I guess it can't be helped. As long as you fill me on everything that's been going on between you two rascals."

Marinette might have joked about her and Adrien's shenanigans with Alya if it had not been for Adrien's phone. She'd lost count of the amount of times that Adrien's phone had rung that day, so she wasn't entirely surprised when it went off again. She was somewhat interested, however, when Adrien glanced at the caller ID, shot her a worried glance, and walked away to answer his mobile. 

"He okay?" Alya asked as she watched Adrien stalk off into the distance. 

"He grew a shade paler, dude," Nino commented. 

"I'll check on him," Marinette told them. "Stay here." 

She was quiet and patient as she approached Adrien, her fingers clasped tightly in front of her to keep herself from fidgeting, and she waited in silence for Adrien to finish his call before she asked, "Everything alright?"

"I have either good news or bad news," Adrien told her. "Depending on how you look at it."

"Who was on the phone?" Marinette asked, though she was almost entirely sure that she already knew the answer. 

"My father," Adrien said. "He wants me to bring you to the house tomorrow night. He's hosting a party."


	28. Chapter 28

Ladybug shuffled anxiously from one foot to the other. 

She knew that her mind should have been focused on one thing and one thing only - the interview she was currently partaking in. Everything she did and everything she said was going to be published to the whole of Paris, and if she wasn't careful she could very well create a predicament for herself. However, no matter how hard she tried to stay focused, her mind continued to ponder over all the possible things that could go wrong at Gabriel's Agreste house party that she'd been invited to later that evening. 

Beside her, Chat Noir gave her a gentle elbow to the ribs, his eyes searching hers worriedly as she met his concerned gaze. 

"Why do you think there's been a dropping in akuma attacks, Bug?" Chat asked her. 

Ladybug blinked, confused, until she glanced across at the young male interviewing them, gazing at her as if he were trapped in some kind of trance. Oh, so that had been the question they'd been asked. 

"Well," Ladybug began quickly, swift to recover from her running daydreams. "We can't exactly tell ourselves. There have been the odd one or two, but really we just have to suppose that either people are less likely to be overwhelmed by akuma, or that Hawkmoth has lessened his attacks."

"And where does leave the two of you?" The interviewer asked, his eyebrow furrowed in concentration as he quickly made sure that his tape recorder was still recording the conversation. "Does that pose any issues for the both of you?"

"Why would it?" Ladybug asked, puzzled. She shot a quick glance at Chat Noir, who appeared to be equally as confused. 

"Without any akuma, is there really any need for Ladybug or Chat Noir?"

That left the two superheroes at a loss for words. Well, it was partially true; Ladybug and Chat Noir had only received their miraculous when Hawkmoth began sprouting akuma across the city of Paris. If there had been no akuma in the first place, would there have ever been a Ladybug and Chat Noir?

"Although battling akuma is important, we do have other things we like to do as heroes," Chat Noir admitted. "I like helping and meeting people, and patrolling the city is a great means of staying healthy and exercising."

"We also get the opportunity to work with the police force," Ladybug added, and she smiled sweetly as she continued, "Besides, I like being Ladybug. Even if there were no akuma, I'd still like to be able to run around the city and do what I can to help every now and then. I think at the end of the day, Chat Noir and I love being here and I don't know if we would ever want to give that up."

Chat slung his arm over her shoulder with a wide grin, apparently his way of showing that he agreed with her statement, and she might've shrugged him off if it weren't for the way he curled a lock of her hair around his index finger. 

_Sly cat,_ she wanted to say. She wondered how he - not Chat Noir  _he_ , but Adrien  _he,_ would act when he was around his father and all his father's guests. Would he behave like the Adrien she had recently grown to know, or the quiet, reserved Adrien that she had once known. It was a little difficult for her, if she had to admit it, not knowing which personality she was going to see at certain times. 

"Bug," Chat whispered again, his eyes widened slightly as if he couldn't really believe that he'd had to nudge her back to reality once more. She did feel bad for spacing out. Chat wasn't often used to be the main one speaking in interviews. 

"Sorry," Ladybug apologised, and she shook her head before she smiled and met the interviewer's eyes with one hundred per cent of her full attention. "What were you saying?" 

"I was wondering if I could ask you about the incident that sparked so much interest around the two of you?" Their interviewer asked.  

"What incident would that be?"

"The akuma who went by Erotica."

Ladybug came to an absolute pause, her lips pursed but her eyes wide with surprise. Beside her, she couldn't hear Chat Noir making a sound either, so she supposed that he was just as shocked by the question as she was. It wasn't an event that Ladybug particularly wanted to remember. 

"Well," Ladybug started slowly, unsure of what was to come. "What is it that you wanted to know?"

"Since the breakup," The interview began, and Ladybug felt her shoulders tense instantly. "There has been some speculation over whether or not the relationship between the two of you was real or not." 

Chat Noir's brow furrowed beneath his mask. "I think that we've already spoken about this in interviews before."

"No what I mean is that - was the relationship just a set up for fame?" 

The two heroes stood quietly, both stunned by the question. 

"For fame?" Ladybug repeated, incredulous. "We're superheroes, not celebrities looking for attention. Chat Noir and I aren't interested in having our personal matters in the spotlight. First and foremost, we have a duty to Paris to keep it safe from harm. That is our only intention, and we don't have  _any_ other intentions."

"We're committed to our job," Chat Noir smoothly interrupted, grinning widely as he squeezed Ladybug into a one-armed hug. She was seething, absolutely livid that anyone could think that she and Chat could have any hidden intentions for fame or popularity; but she supposed that Chat knew that, and now he was trying to lighten the mood after her heated jab at the interviewer. "We know that a lot of people are interested in it, but we don't want to be recognized for our relationship status. We're here to look after our home, that's all." Chat's voice was smooth and kind as he spoke, and he threw up a cheerful peace sign as he added, "If we're doing something, it's for genuine reasons. Not fame."

Ladybug took in a deep breath through her nose, careful not to show too much of her displeasure with the interviewer; but the side of Chat's head was resting playfully against hers as he grinned and laughed for the man in front of them, and Ladybug felt herself relax - even if it was only just a little. She wondered if it would be like this at the Agreste house later that afternoon, with everyone questioning her intentions. She wasn't entirely sure how she would be able to cope if that were the case. 

"What other questions do you have?" Ladybug asked, tone snappy as she hugged closer to Chat Noir. She felt his claw prick the small of her back in warning. 

"How did you manage to get past your differences?" He asked, the tip of his pen to paper as he looked between the two. As if the clarify, he added, "A break-up isn't easy for ordinary people, must've been even more so difficult for superheroes who are partners."

Ladybug gritted her teeth behind a forced smile. Suddenly, the prospect of being continuously questioned about her relationship was seriously irritating her. 

"Ladybug and I have a connection," Chat Noir answered, his soft lips pressing a chaste kiss to the top of Ladybug's head as his clawed fingertips drew invisible shapes on her shoulder. "I'll always love her; we're a team."

She grinned like a fool in love, beside herself, and gazed at Chat's face as she thought to herself -  _I'm going to kiss that idiot out of consciousness._

"I want to kiss you," She told him, words fumbling out of her mouth without her even realising. Chat looked down at her, eyes wide and smiling in amusement, and he laughed - God, his laugh was like a sweet song - and Ladybug trapped his hand between hers and tugged. 

"Then there'll be no chance of Paris' favourite duo splitting up?" The interviewer asked, but Ladybug had grown tired of him. She hadn't really cared if he'd heard what she had told Chat (he hadn't heard, apparently). If anything, she was hoping that he would have heard and let them be. Chat Noir answered him politely but quickly, and Ladybug had already begun pulling him away from the interview as Chat mumbled his apologies and farewells. 

As for Ladybug, she was already skipping on her tiptoes planting kisses across the bottom of Chat Noir's jaw as she pulled him away into seclusion in a small and tight alley between two apartment buildings. They squeezed past a gaping teenage boy throwing the rubbish in the bin, and Chat shot a sly wink and finger gun in his direction as Ladybug hugged his free forearm to her breasts and pulled him away. 

"You -" Chat chuckled, and Ladybug hummed happily as she peppered sweet kisses over his mouth, his cheeks, beneath his mask, over his nose. "- Are so unpredictable, sometimes."

"You, Chaton," Ladybug whispered silkily, and she saw Chat Noir stiffen and swallow. "Are too good for your own good."

"Too good?" He echoed, voice croaky. "I can be bad."

Ladybug shook her head. "Mm, I don't think so." Her tongue ghosted over his upper lip, and Chat's fingertips immediately found the soft skin above her hips. Her mouth found his jawline, and Chat's head lolled back as she dragged wet kisses across his skin. "You're so good," She whispered, hardly knowing what she was even speaking about anymore, and gripped onto his collar as her lips made their way toward's Chat Noir's mouth. 

"We're... going to be..." Chat Noir mumbled, his mouth leaving hers to lick at her throat each time he spoke, and then retuning back to her lips. "Late... Party..."

"A little longer," Ladybug pleaded, fingers dragging slowly across the nape of his neck and into the roots of his blonde hair. "Just kiss me. A little longer."

As if unable to refuse, Chat Noir's tongue met hers, and a devilishly lewd moan escaped from his throat and trembled through Ladybug's lips. She wasn't sure what she wanted more of - did she wants his lips, or his tongue? She was caught in a flurry of both - tongue, lips, tongue, tongue, lips. Ladybug thought that she might've caught Chat's tongue between her teeth a few times, but she  _knew_ that Chat had nipped hers a few times, so she considered them even. 

"Closer," Ladybug gasped, fingers dragging into his leather suit. " _Adrien._ Please."

"Wh-mm," Chat Noir mumbled, too distracted by lips and teeth and tongues to fully understand. "What?"

"Please. I want to be closer. Please," She begged, and when Chat still didn't understand her plea, her fingers curled loosely around his throat and she pushed him back. Chat leaned for Ladybug's lips, but she tightened her hold around her throat. " _Closer,_ " Ladybug whispered, and when Chat stared at her through glazed eyes, she licked her tongue across his jawline, boldly cupped his ass with her hands, and pressed him closer to her hips. "Closer," She repeated. 

Her request finally clicked, and Chat's face reddened as he asked, "Now?" Ladybug nodded as she made a move for his mouth. "Your room," he stated.

"Your room," Ladybug demanded, and she felt her stomach fluttered deliciously. "Your room," She repeated, and again and again as Chat's lips crashed against hers time and time again.

Her lips tingled, her mind was spinning, and she almost hadn't heard what Chat was saying when he told her, "Come on."

And then finally they broke apart and raced for Adrien's bedroom.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im so so sorry i do honestly want to finish this fic and i don't mean to take so long :(( pls bare with me im a struggling uni student. 
> 
> i tried to make up to you with a long(i hope its long) chapter?? i really really hope you enjoy it as i enjoyed writing it!!


	29. Chapter 29

They crashed through the window without a second thought, and their superhero alter-egos dropped almost instantly. Tiki and Plagg zipped away and disappeared somewhere where Marinette couldn't see them, and she hoped that they couldn't see her either, but the two kwamis were lost from her thoughts when she felt the cool touch of Adrien's ring against her cheek as he cupped her face in her hands and kissed her. Her hands went straight for his shirt - she wanted it  _off_ \- and Adrien gladly pulled it over his head and threw it somewhere on the ground. She felt so surreal - finally being able to touch his bare skin, her fingertips feeling the bare skin of his chest, his stomach, God, his back. He was lean and strong, years of modelling and working as Chat Noir, Marinette supposed. 

There was too much happening, and Marinette's head was spinning. 

"What do you want?" Adrien breathed out, forehead warm as it pressed against hers. 

 _You,_ Marinette thought.  _God, I want you._

With feather-light touches, Marinette took Adrien's hands gently, eyes watching his as she guided his fingers to the zipper of her pants. Adrien's eyes closed, and he pressed a wet kiss to her shoulder as he slowly unzipped her trousers and slipped his hand inside. Marinette's eyes widened and her head lolled as her boyfriend's fingers tickled the wet patches on her underwear. For so long she'd been deprived of skin to skin contact, and now that she was getting it, it felt like all of her senses were going into hyperdrive. She wanted everything at the same time, wanted Adrien's hands all over her skin, wanted to feel every inch of him. She shimmied out of her trousers and kicked them aside, cheeks warming once she noticed that Adrien had been watching her the whole time. 

"It's hot," Marinette defended, hands returning to his bare shoulders. 

"Yeah," Adrien agreed, voice cracking as he nodded. He swallowed, and smiled nervously as he asked, "What do you want to do?" 

Marinette swallowed a thick lump in her throat, and she could feel her cheeks flaming with heat but her gut was clenching and her thighs trembling, and she could hardly concentrate on anything besides the fact that Adrien was half naked in front of her and she very much wanted to please him more than anyone had ever pleased him in his entire life. It embarrassed her, all these new feelings and thoughts, but she thought that Adrien - despite all his charms and wit - was every inch as shy and embarrassed as her, and if the way his lips parted and the way his face flushed pink was anything to tell by, then Marinette was definitely right. He felt exactly the same as she did, and it only made Marinette needier.

She swallowed thickly as she backed into the frame of his bed, and Adrien watched her as she clambered onto her hands and knees on top of the mattress. Adrien followed her slowly. The room seemed too hot to wear clothes, but Marinette was already down to her underwear anyway. She kneeled in front of him, her fingers digging into the bedsheets to keep herself from touching him anywhere and everywhere she could, and when Adrien swallowed, Marinette could see the small lump in his throat bobbing. She wanted to drink him in forever, every little thing from top to bottom, but she was fixated on his eyes, pupils wider than usual, and green irises seemingly glowing in the darkness of his bedroom.

In the silence, the springs in his mattress moved when Adrien shifted closer to her, hands ghosting over the curve of her hips, and Marinette climbed into his lap, her lips dancing over the soft skin of his neck. "You're beautiful," Marinette told him, and she was surprised by how soft her voice sounded. Adrien's cheeks flushed an even deeper shade of red, but he smiled at her as he kissed the top of her head. When she looked up at him, his gaze constantly shifted from her eyes to her mouth. "I want to make you feel good." Marinette's fingers raked through his hair and against his skull, and Adrien let out a deliciously low whine as his eyes rolled into the back of his head. "Just tell me what to do."

His eyes opened again, thoughtful as he peered down at her, and as Marinette made a move to kiss his collarbone, he caught her mouth between his thumb and index finger and said, "I can think of something else you can do with that mouth."

Marinette blushed beetroot red, and so did Adrien, but she quietly told him, "I'll do it."

He hesitated, apparently considering if he actually wanted Marinette to do whatever it was he had planned with her mouth, and when Adrien's index finger finally twitched against her upper lip, she felt her stomach coil in such a delightful way. She had an inkling that he would bring this back up later again, probably when she was suited up as Ladybug, and Marinette already knew that she'd blush a thousand shades of red and hit him in the shoulder, but right now, the air was too thick, the room too hot, and she was completely willing to do whatever Adrien asked her to do. His thumb dropped from her mouth, and his index and middle fingers dragged teasingly slow against her lower lip. He seemed to be moving at a snail's pace, and Marinette didn't know if he was purposely doing it to tease her, or if he were nervous, but steadily, he slipped his fingers into Marinette's waiting mouth.

She didn't know what to think at first. His fingers were long and slender, slick from her saliva, and she hadn't thought she'd ever be aroused at someone's fingers inside her mouth, and yet here she was - humming contently as she felt Adrien's fingertips pressing into her tongue. Now, Marinette had never had another person's fingers in her mouth before - in fact, she'd never had another person's anything in her mouth before, so she sat completely unmoving for a few solid beats. Suck. It was a simple movement, and she'd done it a hundred times before. Granted, she'd never sucked on a person, but she'd sucked on ice poles, lollipops, twisty candy. Suck. Simple.

Her tongue shifted in her mouth, rubbing against the underside of Adrien's fingers, and she heard him stop breathing. She tried to keep her teeth out of the way, but his fingers still bumped against them no matter how hard she tried. Although, if anything, it seemed as if he enjoyed it, and when he let out a quiet whine, Marinette whimpered around his fingers. Experimenting, she hollowed her cheeks and sucked at the same time, drawing his fingers in as far as she could until the ends scraped at the back of her throat and she felt like she was going to gag. She pulled away quickly, forehead wet with sweat and lips spread wide, and she thought to herself  _sorry Adrien_ before her mouth found the soft skin above Adrien's hips and she drew it into her mouth. Adrien's hips bucked, and Marinette's fingers splayed across his bare chest. She nibbled at the skin first, then bit down until she heard Adrien wince, and swiped her wet tongue against the red mark. She did it again, and again, and each time, Adrien's tolerance for pain grew longer and longer, stopping only when she could visibly see the large love-bite grow deep red in colour. 

"I said no hickeys," Adrien breathed out, his voice croaky as he spoke. Marinette straddled his hips, and she could feel slight tremors in his legs. She would've asked if he was okay if he hadn't caught her cheeks between his hands and pulled her down, mouth meeting hers in a hungry clash of teeth and tongues. She could feel his fingers, digging underneath her underwear and cupping her rear tightly as he pushed his hips up towards her own.

Adrien still wore his jeans, but they'd been pushed down below his hips, and she teased with a sultry smile, "Is it fair that I'm in my underwear and you've still got pants on?" 

"Keen to get me undressed so quickly, My Lady?" Adrien quipped right back, his grin absolutely devilish with his hair messy and disheveled, and his lips red and kiss-swollen. Still, he lifted his torso off the mattress and kicked off his jeans, abandoning them at the bottom of the bed. Marinette realised it then, that this was the closest they'd ever been, skin-to-skin. He was warm and soft against her, every inch of his body smooth. Adrien was lean but strong, most likely due to his part-time job as a model and his work as Chat Noir. He turned her so she was beneath him, hoisted her leg up against his hip, and Marinette hooked her feet at his calves, laughing wildly as Adrien kissed the sensitive areas behind her ears.  

Her heart was beating oh-so fast against her chest, and it was strange, because she felt so overwhelmed but having Adrien close to her made her feel calm and safe. His lips kissing her skin, finger-tips toying at the roots of her hair as Marinette's fingers traced the curve of his spine. 

Adrien's bedroom opened wide with god-like speed, and neither of them had the chance to react before Nathalie strode in, dressed in a fancy and form-fitting dress. Both their faces were flushed, lips swollen, and Marinette had half forgotten that her right hand had been slowly dipping into Adrien's boxers. 

"W-Why!" Adrien blurted, and then, "Nathalie!"

Nathalie allowed herself to be shocked for only a mere moment before she blinked, cleared her throat and looked down at the ground as she said, "Pardon me, Adrien. You're late to the party and your father asked me to get you." 

"Yes, okay, we're coming," he quickly stammered, but he hadn't made an effort to move off Marinette. She supposed that he was too embarrassed to do anything other than stutter. When the door closed, the distant chatter of Gabriel Agreste's guests died out, and Marinette bit down on her bottom lip as she stared at Adrien with wide-eyes. 

"Oh my God," she said, a glimmer in her eyes as she struggled to hide her smile. 

"Oh my God," Adrien echoed, his cheeks bright red with shame.

 

* * *

 

Marinette was glad that Adrien had convinced her earlier to leave her dress at his room. 

"After the interview, we'll have to go straight to the party," He had told her. "There won't be enough time for you to go home and change."

She had complained about it back then, but God, if she wasn't grateful that she had listened to him. All she really had to worry about was her hair and makeup, but thankfully, Adrien had some that she could borrow - perks of having a model boyfriend. Granted, his skin tone was too light for hers, so she couldn't use any of his foundation, but she could make do without. 

"You look great," Adrien told her, arms folded as he watched her examine herself in front of his mirror. "Marinette, honestly, you look beautiful."

"You have to say that," She snapped, but she fixed the last curl of her hair and sighed in relief when she could finally switch the damn thing off. Adrien's hair had been harder to save, even with mousse, but they'd have to make do with what they got. "Alright," Marinette finally said, and she smoothed down the velvet material of her dress. It was deep green with short princess sleeves, nothing too fancy but fancy enough that Marinette wouldn't have to worry about the way she looked in front of Gabriel Agreste and all of his friends.  

"Ready?" Adrien asked, and Marinette had only nodded and taken his hand in response. The bedroom door opened, and Marinette's stomach twisted with nerves. 

"Don't worry, Marinette," Tiki whispered from her spot in Marinette's purse. She was smiling sweetly, and she nodded as she said, "You'll be fine. You're with Chat Noir, after all." 

Marinette swallowed and nodded. She let out a deep breath, squeezing Adrien's hand as she tried to calm her nerves. It was stupid, really. She could save lives and battle villains, and yet, she found it so nerve wracking to attend a party as Adrien Agreste's official girlfriend. 

"Okay," Marinette said. "Let's do this."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ok so omg i had to rewrite this chapter bc i'm a dingus and forgot to save it : )))))  
> my bad oops 
> 
> also wowza you are all so amazing thank you so so so so much for all your comments 
> 
>  
> 
> also reminder ♡ ♡ ♡ in this fic, adrien and marinette are of age ♡ ♡ ♡ 
> 
>  


	30. Chapter 30

The door to the hallway swung open, and Marinette almost instantly felt her stomach rise to her throat. 

_Don't be nervous,_ she told herself.  _This is a breeze._

The Agreste household was bustling with the sounds of life; conversation, music, and the clink of wine glasses echoed from almost every room. Gabriel's gathering reminded Marinette of the time she and Chat Noir had attended the Mayor's celebratory dinner - although she hoped the outcome this time round wouldn't result in her and Adrien calling quits at the end of the night. She was somewhat underdressed compared to the other women in the house, but considering what she had made do with, she wasn't so unfortunate to look completely out of place. Mostly, she thought that the odd glances were because she had her arm hooked around Adrien's. 

Adrien. That was a grounding thought. 

He appeared cool and collected, proper and formal. He was completely unalike to his alter-ego Chat Noir (was it still fair to think of the two as individuals?), who was more inclined to joke and charm the other party-goers. She couldn't read what he was thinking, and she wondered if he was nervous too. After all, it was the first time that he had brought home a girl.

"There'll be a lot of potential investors here, tonight," Adrien suddenly said, his voice low and mouth close to Marinette's ear as he whispered, "It might be a chance for you to meet other designers." 

The prospect pumped excitement into Marinette's veins. "Better be on my best behaviour then," She said. 

Adrien shot her a side-eyed glance, smiled, and murmured, "For now, at least." 

And then the showcase began. Adrien being waved over by older adults in prim and proper suits, eyebrows raised in surprise when Adrien was eventually given the time to introduce Marinette to them. "She's a designer," He would tell them. "She's very good." His arm looped around the small of her waist, hugging her close, and Marinette blushed and smiled shyly. 

It wasn't too long before Marinette found herself gossiping and chatting with a small group of young models, most likely a few years older than her and inviting Marinette into their group with warm smiles and glasses of champagne. She slipped slowly at her first drink, licked her lips, and delighted herself with a second one. Adrien had wondered off by that point, apparently satisfied that Marinette had found a group of people to talk to while he mingled with some of his Father's associates. She was in awe of the women's beauty and their elegant dresses, and her star-struck expression must have given herself away because they laughed. 

"You could model, too," A blonde model told her. 

Marinette gulped down a mouthful of champagne and shook her head. "Oh, no. I don't think so-"

"Why not?" Another model asked. "You're got a lovely figure and nice, long legs. You'd probably do quite well."

"I prefer designing," Marinette admitted, and she licked the sweet drink from her lips before grabbing her third from a passing waiter. "Designing is my passion. I'll leave the modelling to Adrien, I think." By that point, she was smiling goofily and giggling, and it probably didn't help that the other girls had been drinking just as much as her either. She took a sip from her glass (a quite large sip, as a matter of fact), and glanced around the room for Adrien. She finally spotted him with a group of other men, and he appeared to be laughing. He looked gorgeous, in his white dress shirt and black trousers, his blonde hair brushed back and neat.

"Missing your other half?" The blonde model asked, and Marinette, in her tipsy stupor, hummed to herself. "He is quite a catch." 

"I've liked him since I was fourteen," Marinette told her absent-mindedly. 

Gabriel Agreste had joined Adrien and the others, and Marinette saw her blonde-haired partner stiffen slightly. He glanced over at her, and the two met each others eyes for several moments until Marinette sauntered over. "Father, this Marinette," Adrien introduced. "Marinette Dupain-Cheng. Do you remember her?"

Marinette glanced up, and she found that Gabriel had been observing her, grey eyes narrowed as he looked down at her. "I do remember," He finally said. "You won my designing competition a few years ago. Marinette Dupain-Cheng, you're quite talented."

She blushed and grinned, and gripped Adrien's hand hard. "Thank you. It means a lot coming from you."

Marinette had to bite her tongue after that, because she hadn't forgotten what he'd put Adrien through after all. Although he was a talented designer, Gabriel was not necessarily the best father in her books. Not only had he neglected his own child and dedicated all his time to work, but he'd put Adrien on strict diets. Her hand tightened around Adrien's, and she felt him squeeze back. 

"Well, I have other guests to greet. Enjoy the rest of the night," Gabriel said coolly. He glanced at Adrien one last time, a strange look on his face that Marinette thought might have been approval - but she couldn't be so sure. When he walked away, Marinette turned to Adrien and pouted. 

"I'm not happy with him at the moment," she said. 

"He just complimented you."

"Not happy."

Adrien smiled, a similar, cheeky smile that reminded her of Chat Noir, and he said, "You've been taking advantage of the free alcohol, haven't you?"

"I don't drink often," she told him, and pushed herself onto the tips of her toes so she could brush her lips against his. "But I could drink you up all night long."

The smallest touch of their mouths against one another spiked sparks up Marinette's spine, and her fingers toyed with his trousers until he grabbed her hands tightly and stated, "We're out in public." 

"Then we can sneak back into your room," Marinette purred, and she grinned as Adrien tightened his grip on her hands. 

Adrien smiled. "I think you've had too much to drink."

"Excuse me, Pussy Cat. You think that I can't handle a few drinks?" Marinette smiled slowly, and she thoroughly enjoyed the way that Adrien's eyes lit up. "I can handle a lot more than you'd imagine, you know?" 

He paused to think, a cunning smile dancing on his lips, and Adrien finally nodded. "Alright," He finally said, and he took her hand and led her through the party. Marinette was glad that not too many people paid any attention to them - they'd been the highlight of the party when it had first started, now they were beginning to be forgotten. Adrien had begun to lead her down a hallway and into a bathroom. He tugged her inside, locked the door, and turned to face her. "Well?" Adrien asked. "What are you capable of, Purrincess?" 

Marinette lowered herself to her knees, shrugged her curled hair over her shoulders, and began to work the zipper and buttons of Adrien's trousers. 

"Wait," Adrien said, but his voice was hoarse. Marinette did as she was told and stopped, looking up at him with wide, blue eyes. "This... I mean, do we really want to do this in a bathroom?" 

"Do you want me to do it?" Marinette asked. 

"Well, yeah -" Marinette continued with the zipper and tugged his trousers down his hips. "Okay, I changed my mind!" Adrien exclaimed, and Marinette immediately backed off.

She stood quickly, her eyes wide as she said, "Sorry!" 

Adrien grumbled something low in his throat, and before Marinette knew it, Adrien had swooped her off her feet and sat her down on the bathroom counter, her green dress hoisted up against her hips. His mouth was oh so warm on hers as he drew her bottom lip between his teeth, and his tongue felt like electricity where it touched her. His fingers feathered against the inside of her thigh as he traced patterns into the warm skin, and Marinette couldn't help but buck into his touch when his index finger outlined her underwear. He kissed her hard, his other hand gripping her chin tightly as lips kissed and pulled at hers, his tongue warm as it touched hers and licked her teeth. She gasped when Adrien finally nuzzled into the side of her neck, and her fingers pulled at his blonde hair as she struggled to regain her breath. 

"I - I thought you didn't want to?" Marinette managed to gasp out, and her legs tightened around his hips. 

"My Lady," Adrien purred, and Marinette could hardly believe that his voice was sending heat between her thighs. "A gentleman will always indulge His Lady, first." 

He removed her underwear painfully slow, his green eyes practically glowing as he slowly dragged them down Marinette's pale legs. When they finally dropped to the floor and Adrien lowered himself onto his knees, Marinette closed her thighs tight.

"Now you're shy?" Adrien asked. 

"I was supposed to be the one seducing you!" Marinette argued. He chuckled as he slowly spread her legs and settled between them, and Marinette blushed a deep, embarrassing shade of red. "A-Adrien, this is embarrassing."

He pressed a kiss to the back of her knee, and Adrien shot her a cheshire-like grin as he teased, "It's just me, Bugaboo. You can trust me."

"I do, but -" Adrien blew a soft breath between Marinette's legs, and she jolted with a loud gasp. "Y-You're supposed to be innocent! Adrien Agreste is pure!"

He raised a brow and admitted, "His thoughts are far from pure right now." Marinette swallowed thickly and she gripped the nearby faucet as Adrien hoisted her legs over his shoulders. "Can kitty get his treat?"

Marinette frowned. "That's actually really embarrassing, don't say that ever - _Oh_!" Her breath caught in her throat in a ragged gasp when Adrien licked a strip up her core and pressed wet and lingering kisses over her most sensitive areas. Her hands almost instantly snatched his hair in her fingers, and Marinette's mouth hung open as she watched sweet, innocent Adrien Agreste press in further between her thighs. He murmured something, but the vibrations from his voice only rocketed through Marinette's spine and she gasped out loud. She didn't know if the wetness between her legs was her own, or if it had been a result of Adrien's tongue, and her skin flushed with embarrassment. 

"M-Maybe this isn't a-ah, a good idea to do this here," Marinette choked out, her breaths heavy and broken. "Let's go to your room."

"Tired of the party, already?" Adrien mumbled. 

"Adrien, 'c-mon," She said, and she could have died from humiliation when she looked down to see Adrien grinning at her. "I'm shy, okay! I'm embarrassed."

Adrien stopped with one final kiss, and licked his lips as he stood. His mouth and chin were wet, and Marinette couldn't find it in her to meet his eyes. She heard him release a low moan deep in his throat, and when she looked at him again, he was wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. His hair was awfully dishevelled, and his lips and the skin around it was bright red. Marinette didn't even want to look in the mirror to see what she looked like. 

"You don't have to be shy with me, Marinette," Adrien told her. "It's _me_." 

But it was all too real now that they knew each others identities. 

"I know," Marinette said quietly, and she pouted as she glanced down at his black shoes. "But I'm still embarrassed."

Adrien didn't say anything for the longest of times, and the only sounds were their panting and the music from outside the bathroom. 

"That's not the cat-ittude I expected from you," Adrien finally said. "Purrhaps I can purrsuade you not to be embarrassed?"

Marinette rolled her eyes. "If you think -"

"I thought you said that you could handle a lot more than I could imagine?" Adrien teased. 

"Now, listen -" 

"Looks like you bit off more than you could chew."

"You're a nuisance."

Adrien jutted out his bottom lip in a frown, and said, "I'm wounded."

Marinette narrowed her eyes at him. "I'll wound you for real in a minute."

"You wouldn't hurt this adorable kitty, would you?"

"Stop referring to yourself as a cat, Adrien." 

"Sleep over tonight," Adrien suddenly asked, all joking aside as if it had never begun in the first place. His green eyes were bright and beautiful, and Marinette nervously fixed the dress of her skirt over her knees. "We don't have to do anything. Cat's honour."

Marinette narrowed her eyes. "No puns."

Adrien winced. "No, can't promise that."

She smiled, despite herself, and sighed heavily. "Alright," Marinette answered, and she gently punched Adrien's arm as she slipped off the bathroom bench. "Alright, I'll stay. But-" Marinette swiftly interrupted, and she grinned as she linked her fingers with Adrien's. "But, I want to have a bath."

"A bath?" 

She nodded. "I want a bath." 

He appeared confused, as if he were expected some sort of catch, and he watched her with a curious expression before finally agreeing, "If my Lady wants a bath, she'll get a bath."

Marinette grinned happily, her cheeks still flushed cherry red. "Now, what are the chances of sneaking out of the party?"

"Well," Adrien began, and he fixed the buttons and zipper of his trousers. Marinette quickly fumbled to pull on her underwear. "Considering that the last time someone came looking for us they found us in a heated situation, I think that we may just be in the clear."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OMG. i'm sorry ((((゜д゜;))))  
> i've very honestly been so busy with university, but I really really hope you enjoyed this chapter.  
> I admit, it was a little hard to bust this chapter out !! 
> 
> thank you everyone so much for all your support and understanding xxo


	31. Chapter 31

"Admit it. You're jealous!" Marinette exclaimed in glee, fist on her hips as she stood in the middle of Adrien Agreste's bed.

"I'm not jealous," Adrien quipped from below her, his hands laced behind his head. She poked the sides of Adrien's stomach with her big toe, and Adrien shrugged away. "I'm not!"

"You're Kwami thinks that  _I'm_ cuter than you, and you're jealous."

"I don't need a Kwami to think I'm cute," He defended smoothly, his eyes closing and eyebrows raising. "I know that I'm cute. Adrien, Chat Noir? Doesn't matter, I'm adored." 

"Eech," Plagg grumbled, perched up high besides Tiki on a bookshelf. "Mister Arrogant, or what?"

Marinette jumped on the mattress, and Adrien did his best not to roll out of balance. He opened one eye to look up at her, and Marinette narrowed her eyes at him. "Sheesh. Now I know why you've been single for so long... Celebrities are so obnoxious." 

Adrien grinned widely, and he brought his knees up to knock out Marinette's knees from behind. She stumbled and almost fell, but she stabled herself by catching the bed post and clicked her tongue. He tried again, but she dodged him. "Now that you know I'm Chat Noir, you're so mean to me."

"Am not."

He sat up, his forehead against Marinette's thigh and he gently smacked her ankles. She sat after several moments, her thighs spread over his. 

"Kitty," she drawled, eyes half-lidded as her fingers curled behind the nape of Adrien's neck. "Chat Noir is my hero and partner, I would never be mean to him." She paused, a lazy smile dancing on her lips. "Chat Noir calls me his princess. So that makes him my prince."

The tips of his cheeks were flushed a faint pink, but Adrien rolled his eyes as he commented, "You're still tipsy from the alcohol." 

Marinette smiled, and she gently tugged at his earlobes with her fingers as she pressed a light kiss to his forehead. She loved the pink in his skin, the brightness of his green eyes, and she loved when he smiled and it was caught between Adrien Agreste's sweetness and Chat Noir's charm. Feeling warm - most likely (highly likely) from the effects of the many glasses of wine -, Marinette pulled the skirt of her dress above her knees and held it high up on her hips as she bounced on the pads of her feet. Adrien rolled his eyes and averted his gaze, his attention instead focusing on the two giggling Kwamis. They snickered when Adrien leered at them, and disappeared high up in one of the many bookshelves. 

"Tipsy or not," Marinette lazily drawled. "I'm having a  _great_ time!" She threw her hands up in the air and twirled, stumbling on the mattress, until she leaped off and made a beeline for Adrien's bathroom. She turned to face him, fingers entwined innocently behind her back as she stated, "I was promised a bath, remember?" 

"Marinette!" Adrien called, and he waited several short moments until he heard the faucet begun to run. He groaned and slowly rolled off the mattress, and his dress shirt was so horribly wrinkled that if his Father ever saw it, he might possibly shriek. "Marinette," He sighed, and he scratched the back of his head as he trudged over to the bathroom door. "Maybe you should change into some new clothes and go to bed."

"I'm not tired!" Marinette called. 

He would bet money that she would be tired in the morning. 

"C'mon, Princess. Don't make me tell you again." Adrien's hand was on the door knob now, slowing turning and pushing open the door. 

"Don't be a sour puss." 

Adrien stepped inside the room and felt the blood rush from his brain. 

Marinette had her back turned to him as she stood watching the bathtub fill with steaming, soapy water, her hands behind her head. Her dark hair was messy around her shoulders, and her fingers combed gently through it. Her dress had been discarded on the bathroom floor, along with her underwear, and Adrien tried -  _tried so hard_ \- to look away, but he hadn't seen so much of Marinette's skin. She was pale, and Adrien could see how years of her work as Ladybug had toned her muscles and made her body strong. Her back muscles and shoulder blades moved strongly and swiftly beneath her soft skin as she combed through her hair, and she glanced over her shoulder to scowl at Adrien. His eyes dipped down, and he felt his blood grow hot.

"You're naked!" He blurted. 

Marinette puffed out her cheeks. "I'm having a bath!" She exclaimed. "I told you." 

"I wasn't expecting you to -" He stopped as Marinette climbed into the tub, his eyes drawn to her rear as she carefully settled down. He swallowed, and finally met her eyes, somewhat thankful and angry at the bubbles that now swallowed her naked body. "I didn't think you would actually do it."

For the first time that night, Marinette appeared sober as she worriedly asked, "Should I not have?"

"No!" Adrien quickly blurted. "No, it's fine. I don't mind, I'm just a little..." He paused, his palms clammy against his trousers. "I just got a little nervous."

Marinette brought her knees to her chest and propped her chin atop them. She blew bubbles from her legs, and puckered her lips to the side as she asked, "Well, you could come in too?" 

He was absolutely itching to get out of his clothes, and he noticed the way Marinette's eyes glowed as he unfastened the black button closest to his clavicle. He had undone three buttons when he heard laughter from outside his bedroom, and his hands dropped to his sides as he answered, "What if someone walks in?"

Marinette's blue eyes moved from his and to her toes as she lifted them out of the water. "Well, couples have baths together." 

Adrien raised an eyebrow. "What if my Father walks in?"

She rolled her lips together and smirked as she entertained the thought. "I think that I'd be a bit embarrassing," she admitted sheepishly. 

"A bit?" Adrien repeated as he sat down on the edge of the tub. He dipped his fingers in the water and shivered when he felt Marinette's thigh skim against his hand. Marinette shifted so she could press a chaste kiss below Adrien's jaw, and then sunk back into the bathtub. He almost couldn't believe it, and if anyone had have told Adrien that he'd be in this situation with Marinette Dupain-Cheng a month ago he would have laughed and brushed it off. 

_Marinette's just a friend_ , Adrien would have said. 

He wondered if he hadn't been so in love with Ladybug would he have fallen in love with Marinette?

He shook the thought out of his head - he didn't want to think about the past. Adrien loved Marinette, and he loved Ladybug. Lucky for him, they were the exact same person. 

Without thinking, almost as if to prove it to himself, he stated, "You're my girlfriend."

Marinette stared at him, blue eyes wide with surprise, until she finally grinned and said, "That's right."

Adrien kissed the top of her head, and as he pulled away, Marinette reached for his cheeks and held them in her palms. Her hair and face were wet - she must've been splashing around in the bath and Adrien hadn't even noticed - and Adrien's eyes closed when her lips fell on his. Warm and sweet on his mouth, Adrien felt his chest grow light and warm as he kissed Marinette softly and gently. His trousers were getting wet as he leant further and further into the bathtub, and Adrien didn't even care when Marinette slung her dripping wet arms over his shoulders, spilling water out of the tub and all over his dress shirt. He was tempted to climb in with her - screw his Dad, he didn't care if they got caught after all - but Marinette had shuffled onto her knees and was already beginning to climb out of the tub. 

She was completely soaked, from head to toe, but she wrapped herself in Adrien's arms anyway, and he didn't mind. His fingers trailed across her skin, covering as much as he could, his fingertips tracing down her spine as he met her innocent kisses. His hands fell on the curve of her ass, and Marinette pressed herself into him, lips spreading over his as he murmured into her mouth, "God, you're so beautiful." 

Marinette paused for several seconds, lost in his candy green eyes, and with careful fingers she slowly unzipped Adrien's trousers. 

"Marinette," Adrien started. 

"It'll be fine," she assured him. 

"If someone walks in-"

"Adrien," Marinette whispered, so soft that he had almost missed it, and he watched her lips move as she said, "Please. I really want to." 

The words send burning heat through his body, and Adrien peppered kisses on Marinette's bare collarbone before resting his forehead on her shoulder. He closed his eyes, and heard every sound she made; felt every movement of her fingers; felt the cool hair hit his hot skin as Marinette managed to tug down his trousers. Adrien hadn't been in this situation before, and he was pretty sure that Marinette hadn't either, and he tried not to make a sound when Marinette slowly lowered a hand between Adrien's thighs. It was hard and warm, and Marinette instantly snatched her hand back, and she was suddenly not feeling as bold as she had been feeling five minutes earlier. She'd never done this before, never  _touched_ a boy like this before, and it was all so foreign and scary to her. But God, was she intrigued. 

Marinette caught her bottom lip between her teeth as she touched him again, lips parting as she ran her thumb along the bulge in his briefs. She could faintly hear Adrien murmuring something, but the pounding of her heart in her ears was too heavy to hear anything else. "I don't know what to do," Marinette whispered. 

Without a single word, Adrien's hand founds hers, and he flattened her palm flush against him. Adrien sighed against her skin, and Marinette perked instantly, her head twisting quickly to kiss the skin below his hairline before she focused on where Adrien's hand was guiding her. 

"Hard," She whispered to herself, but she heard Adrien snort. 

She rubbed her palm carefully against him, her fingers curling around him, and there was something about the way Adrien guided her hand that had Marinette squeezing her legs tightly together and biting down hard on her bottom lip. She was shivering, but she wasn't sure if it was from nerves, excitement, or the cold (she had almost forgotten that she was completely naked), and she felt electricity in her skin when Adrien ran his fingers up her arm. 

"You're shivering," Adrien commented.

"I'm fine," Marinette told him, but when her trembling fingers tucked beneath his boxers, Adrien jumped away from her. 

"Jesus!" He cried out. "Your fingers are freezing!"

Marinette blinked, eyes wide as her lips slowly spread into a grin. "Sorry," she apologised. "I'm naked and wet."

Adrien grimaced as he stood, and Marinette blushed as he adjusted his trousers. His blonde hair that he had slicked back was now a mess, resembling the messy locks of Chat Noir, and his dress shirt clung to his stomach. He helped Marinette to his feet, his cheeks red as he wrapped her tightly in a towel. He retrieved some pyjamas for her, a dinosaur set that was slightly too tight for him, and although Marinette teased him for it, she happily changed into pyjamas and crept into his bed and hut underneath the blanket. He was half-tempted to wear the polka-dot pyjama pants he had scoured the Internet for, but decided that would provide her with far too much banter ammunition, and instead pulled on a sweater and a pair of a sweatpants.

When he slipped into the bed himself, Marinette's head and right arm was only just peaking out from underneath the blankets. 

"Rock-paper-scissors. Winner chooses the movie. Out of three," Marinette demanded. 

Adrien had won, but he let Marinette pick anyway, and when he glanced across at her ten minutes into the film, she was fast asleep in Adrien's arms. 

And as Adrien planted a sweet kiss to her forehead, his eyes closed as Marinette's cheek pressed into his side and his Father's party raged on outside his bedroom, he couldn't help but feel so entirely and completely at peace.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yes, I'm still here !!
> 
> first off, thank you everyone for being so patient and understanding.  
> second, I am so sorry that I've been absent for so long. long story short,  
> I had some personal issues and ran into a writing roadblock for an  
> awfully long time. like I've said previously, I intend to finish this fic, so  
> I promise it won't be cancelled. 
> 
> thank you again for your patience I am so grateful and I hope you  
> continue to enjoy this fic !


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